Open Contracting Partnership


Summary

The Open Contracting Partnership (OCP) is seeking actionable proposals to advance open and inclusive public procurement in Tanzania. OCP intends to work with local partners including government, civil society organizations (CSOs) and the private sector in Tanzania 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, inclusive public procurement and anti-corruption, including improving opportunities for collaboration between civil society and government on using information from the recently commissioned e-Government Procurement (e-GP) system.

Eligibility: Organizations registered and operating in Tanzania.

Timeline for project: 1 year (minimum)

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

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

Background

The Government of Tanzania is actively engaged in reforming its public procurement system. It recently re-enacted the Public Procurement Act 2023 repealing the previous legislation of Public Procurement Act 2011. At the apex of the regulatory framework is the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), responsible for enforcement of the procurement legal and policy framework in Tanzania. It is also key to ensuring 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 and accountability.

In 2018, using an international e-GP solution provider, the government of Tanzania launched the Tanzania National e-Procurement system (TaNePS), an electronic government procurement (e-GP) system with the expectation that it would help resolve many challenges in the procurement system. However, despite some progress there were shortcomings which left unfulfilled expectations. In July 2023, the Government launched a locally developed e-GP system to replace the TaNePS.

It is hoped that the new system, the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST) supported by the re-enacted Public Procurement Act 2023, will enable PPRA to effectively and efficiently fulfill its objectives of bringing value for money, transparency, fairness, competition, sustainability, accountability and integrity to the public procurement system of the country. At this foundational stage, PPRA is keen to use NeST as a platform 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 Tanzania 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 Tanzania 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 Tanzania, 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;
  • Engagement of businesses, citizens, or other non-state actors around improving procurement systems and processes;
  • Technical assistance on open contracting data publication or use, policies, or practices, such as better planning and/or risk detection (red flags) by procuring authorities;
  • 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;
  • 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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