By the launch, CIPS Ghana will now represent the procurement and supply chain profession and will be dedicated to promoting best practices.

It will also provide a programme of continuous improvement in professional standards in the profession which will help raise the country’s awareness of the contribution procurement makes to corporate, national and international prosperity.

The Country Manager of CIPS Ghana, Mrs Stella Addo, said the objective of CIPS Ghana was to impact positively on the Ghanaian economy through the application of standards in procurement processes.

She, therefore, called on all professionals involved in procurement to join the CIPS Ghana branch to explore how a career in procurement opens up a wealth of opportunities.

She said the institution would help champion standards in the profession through its professional qualifications, leading edge thinking and research in driving the professional procurement agenda across the world.

Procurement in Ghana

There have been calls and proposals for the review of the current public procurement system as procurement is one way by which the government loses huge sums of money.

Given the huge role public expenditure plays in the economy and the tendency for abuse of public funds by officials, public procurement has become very critical in the country.

Although there is currently a Public Procurement act that regulates how public procurement should be done in the country, most officials flout the procedures outlined under the Act.

Mrs Addo said the CIPS would, therefore, help train professionals who would abide by the ethics and rules of the profession and help close the loopholes in the current procurement system.

Future of procurement

The Board Chairman of the Public Procurement Authority (PPA), Professor Douglas Boateng, predicted that by 2025, procurement would become one of the most important functional instruments for industrialisation and socio-economic development in emerging economies such as Ghana.

To minimise conflict of interest, he said the Developmental Financial Institutions (DFI), local and international agencies and supervisory organisations would aggressively advocate for the decoupling of procurement from finance.

“At least 50 per cent of forward thinking emerging economy governments such as Ghana will from accountability and governance perspectives make it mandatory for all public and private sector procurers to have a licence to practise plus be a registered member of a locally recognised procurement professional body,” he stated.

Advice to CIPS

Prof. Boateng also advised CIPS to strive to understand, respect and truly cater for the local needs of its current and future members.

He also urged them to champion the establishment of a truly world class, but local, professional body to represent, as well as give a collective voice to Ghana’s procurement practitioners.

“You should also collaborate with various local academic and training institutions to undertake relevant procurement research and training, as well as co-create educational and skills development content that is relevant to Ghana’s professionalisation agenda and long-term developmental needs,” he stated.

The board chairman also called for the need to co-assist with the preparation and publication of a comprehensive code of ethics for all procurement related functional custodians.
“Together with unwavering support from the government, we can collectively bring our varied and rich professional experiences to bear on the procurement professionalisation agenda,” he noted.