The Government of Ekiti State has announced the selection of the State’s Bureau of Public Procurement as one of the seven projects to advance procurement reforms as part of the Open Contracting Partnership’s Impact Accelerator Program Lift.

Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement is the only team in Africa selected to participate in the highly competitive programme, and would join other teams from France, India, Mexico, Paraguay, and the United States to advance public procurement reforms and increase access, competition and participation with the support of Lift.

Under the OCP-Lift, the Bureau shall benefit from up to $30,000 financial support and over 200 hours of tailored assistance on change management, inclusion, open contracting strategies and more.

“We are proud to support these bold frontline innovators who will leverage the untapped power of public procurement to achieve greater social inclusion, increase environmental sustainability, and deliver more equitable government services,” says Kathrin Frauscher, Deputy Executive Director of the Open Contracting Partnership.

The selection of Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement is in recognition of the far-reaching reforms in public procurement that has been carried out in the state’s procurement regime, including a transparent open contracting system that enables all contracts are published on a portal and available to all members of the public.

According to the Director General, Ekiti State Bureau of Public Procurement, Mr. O’Seun Odewale, “We are proud of the recognition by the globally renowned Open Contracting Partnership, which is a result of the focus of the Dr. Kayode Fayemi administration on Governance as one of the cardinal pillars of the administration.”

Over the next 18 months, the Open Contracting Partnership will support the selected teams as they open and strengthen their procurement systems and build their technical capacity to make procurement more community-cantered and effective for all.

The project will be implemented by the Ekiti BPP in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development and the New Initiative for Social Development.

In a related development, the Ekiti BPP’s Public Procurement Reform Programme (PPRP), also took delivery of 100 units of Lenovo M10 Tablets as additional working tools for Procurement Officers aimed at enhancing their productivity.

Odewale who received the tablets on behalf of the Bureau said the donation was the first of its kind in Ekiti State, adding that it would go a long way to enhance the capacity of procurement specialists in the state, in addition to enhancing better and faster practice of due process.

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