An Examination of the Public Procurement Policies of Ghana and Nigeria in the Context of Value for Money

Abstract

ABSTRACT Public procurement is the lifeblood of every government without which the administration of states will be difficult if not impossible. The study looked at the procurement policies of Ghana and Nigeria with emphasis on attaining value for money. The study employed a qualitative research design to explore the criteria for ensuring value for money, measures of attaining value in procurement, and challenges that hinder value for money attainment in Ghana and Nigeria. Data was sourced from regulatory bodies and procurement practitioners from both countries. The study found that while Ghana mainly uses the traditional 5 rights (right quantity, right quality, right price, right place and right time) as criteria for ensuring value for money, Nigeria often used the 4 Es- economy, efficiency, effectiveness and equity. However, these criteria are not mutually exclusive to each country. The study also found proper monitoring by regulators, ensuring competition in procurement, conducting Need-Based Assessments before procurement and externally auditing public organizations as means of ensuring value for money in procurement. Challenges that were identified in the course of the research are corruption of procurement authorities, low capacity of procurement personnel, and poor knowledge of procurement laws among others. The study recommends that both countries should employ more involving criteria such as debating procurements directly or through elected representatives while restricting government spending through strict budgetary approval procedures, strengthening the capacities of procurement officers through training and collaborating with Civil Society Organizations to check corruption in the public sector.