He noted that 70 percent of the national budget went into government procurement and there must be a strategy to ensure the local businesses, especially small and medium-scale enterprises got government contracts in order to remain competitive.

Mr. Annan, who was speaking at the launch of an online portal, in Accra, on Wednesday, said transparent procurement processes would save the nation an estimated amount of GH¢20 million annually and ensure high productivity.

He said the cost of government procurement was huge because most of the bidding processes were manual and called for activation of the electronic-procurement clause in the Public Procurement Act, (Act 914) promulgated in 2016.

‘‘Without transparency in the procurement processes, Ghana’s agenda for industrialisation will be fruitless,’’ he noted, adding, ‘‘the One-District, One-Factory policy will be realised only when government ensures transparency in the procurement processes’’.

Explaining the rationale for creating the online platform, he said the website would assist companies, especially small and medium-scale enterprises to overcome the challenges of procurement processes and services and enhance business productivity in the country.

He observed that the country’s procurement structure was fragmented and assured that the portal would create a common point for businesses to apply for government contracts and advertise their products.

The management of the online platform would download tender documents onto the system so that companies and entrepreneurs could download and bid for government contracts, he added.

This, according to him, would create competitive bidding for government projects and reduce human interface as well as eliminate corruption in the procurement processes.He said 25,000 companies had so far been registered onto the portal that would enable them to bid for government contracts and projects in a credible and transparent manner.

He said: ‘‘There are three procurement costs namely, the pre-acquisition cost, the actual cost and the post-acquisition cost, however, we will focus on the pre-acquisition cost comprising the consultancy services, preparation of the tender documents and publication’’.He said the portal would take care of the pre-acquisition cost and this would reduce the contract cost and the nation could save monies for other pressing national needs.

He said it created the electronic business platform that would enable suppliers and buyers to interact, access information on procurement processes and create business opportunities among industry players.He added that the portal was partnering the Public Procurement Authority, the Ghana Association of Industries and the Ghana Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Ghana Chamber of Mines, the Ghana Institute of Supply and other agencies.

He urged interested companies and businesses to visit them online at www.smartbidgh.com for more information and registration.The Smartbid Company Limited is an indigenous company comprising a team of combined experience of over 50 years in supply chain management, procurement, technology and entrepreneurship.