Open Contracting Partnership

Summary

The Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) is seeking actionable proposals to advance open and inclusive public procurement in Rwanda. OCP intends to work with local partners including government, civil society and the private sector in Rwanda to leverage technology to promote transparency, accountability and inclusiveness in the public procurement system with support from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) under the Fiscal Transparency and Accountability Initiative (FTAI). We are looking to partner with reputable organizations that have demonstrable working relations with the government and other key stakeholders in promoting good governance and civic engagement. We are looking for those with realistic specific interventions to promote open contracting and inclusive public procurement, including improving opportunities for collaboration between civil society and government on contract monitoring, using information from platforms such as e-Government Procurement (e-GP).

Eligibility: Organizations registered and operating in Rwanda.

Timeline for project: 1 year (minimum)

Budget per project: 30,000 USD (this is an indicative figure for year 1, and depending on the project we may go beyond)

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis from 6th December 2023.

Background

Rwanda’s public procurement system is at the heart of the public financial management system, and accounts for approximately 16% of GDP. This is the means through which the country’s budgets are translated into public services including road works, education, health, water and sanitation services, among others.

The Government of Rwanda, in recognition of the importance of public procurement, instituted measures to reform the procurement system, including through the Public Procurement Act in 2007 and its amendment in 2022. The amendments aimed to improve transparency and regularize the automation of the procurement system. The government also established the Rwanda Public Procurement Authority (RPPA) to ensure value for money by setting up procurement standards, guidelines, and procedures, and by building capacity and monitoring procurement in order to ensure competition, economy, transparency, fairness, efficiency, accountability and zero tolerance of corruption.

According to a 2020 assessment of the Rwanda procurement system using the OECD’s Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems, there is a strong procurement legal framework, an effective audit and monitoring system, robust anti-corruption measures, and a fully functional end-to-end e-Government Procurement (e-GP) system; however the assessment also identified a range of issues for improvement. In particular, there is also a need to improve dialogue and partnership with private sector and civil society organizations (CSOs) and enhance citizen engagement to reinforce transparency.

The Government of Rwanda is a leader in e-GP implementation in the African region. The e-GP system, called Umucyo and benchmarked on South Korea’s KONEPS system, is considered a success as all government agencies actively use it, and most procurement from planning to contract management is done on the system. The system is also integrated with the budget and payment system. There are also efforts underway for international financial institutions such as the World Bank to use the Rwandan system for their own procurements. RPPA now intends to focus on using the system to promote open and inclusive public procurement.

Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) is an independent not-for-profit based in Washington DC but working globally to open up and transform government contracting and procurement. We are a fast-moving, ambitious and impact-driven organization working with government, business, civil society and technologists working to improve public contracting outcomes through improved transparency and engagement. We work in over fifty countries, and have supported countries and cities in many regions to achieve measurable results from better contracting - working along the whole process of government contracting to use the power of open data and open government to deliver better goods and services to citizens, to save governments money and time, deter corruption, and create a better business environment for all.

We are now inviting proposals for projects on open and inclusive public procurement from organizations in Rwanda where we have seen interest in open contracting, and believe our increased support at this time could be an accelerator.

Objectives

OCP is keen to identify projects through which we can provide assistance to procurement reformers in Rwanda to advance open and inclusive public procurement. We invite participants to propose strategies and activities over the coming year to support measurable commitments and action to advance open contracting and inclusive public procurement in Rwanda, and to see measurable outcomes and ultimately impact from this work.

This could include, for instance:

  • Advocacy to relevant government institutions to improve procurement systems through open contracting and inclusive public procurement;
  • Technical assistance on open contracting data publication or use, policies, or practices, such as better planning and/or risk detection (red flags) for procuring entities;
  • Enhancing participation of special groups such as SMEs and women-led businesses in public procurement;
  • Reforming public procurement through equity and inclusion initiatives;
  • Supporting gender responsive public procurement through policy reforms, stronger institutional capacity, new legislation, and better complaints mechanisms;
  • Innovative use of open contracting data for analysis, or to build tools or dashboards for public procurement monitoring, data collection, publication, or analysis;
  • Engagement of businesses, citizens, or other non-state actors around improving procurement systems and processes;
  • Other relevant activities to advance open and inclusive public procurement.

Timeline

The projects are expected to start in January 2024 and end in December 2024, in an initial phase, with potential extension. These projects should lead to measurable improvement by the end of 2024 or early 2025, for example increasing availability and use of public procurement information; better analysis of public procurement data; improved participation of SMEs and women-led businesses in public procurement or improving overall public procurement transparency.

Although in this call we will fund projects with expected results within one year, we will favorably consider and commit to projects that have the potential of longer engagements subject to achieving acceptable tangible results within the first year.

Application Process

Proposals should include:

  • Summary of the anticipated impact, as well as the theory of change you are trying to achieve through the proposed work (including the target outcomes you expect to see on the way to impact);
  • Description of the lead organization and involved stakeholders, with relevant experience;
  • List of planned activities and timeline (through 31 December 2024, though we may consider longer-term projects); and
  • Budget, preferably by activity (we will prioritize proposals under 30,000 USD, but depending on the content will consider proposals above this amount, especially if they contribute to longer-term change).

Please submit your proposal online from 6th December 2023. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

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