President Akufo addo
The World Bank has commended President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo and the Minister of State in-charge of Public Procurement, Sarah Adwoa Safo, for their efforts at introducing a policy that aims to economically empower women, Persons With Disabilities (PWDs) and the youth through the award of government contracts.
The Ministry of Public Procurement, led by Adwoa Safo, recently announced that it was in the process of rolling out a major public procurement policy that seeks to award 30 percent out of 70 percent of all government contracts to marginalized groups in the society, especially women, PWDs and the youth.
The initiative falls in line with the vision of President Akufo-Addo to economically resource the marginalized groups to enable them to also contribute towards the ‘Ghana Beyond Aid’ Agenda that he is pushing.
A forum to that effect was held where the Ministry sought the inputs of civil society organizations, academia, media and some other stakeholders.
The World Bank Group Director, Solutions and Innovations in Procurement Governance Global Practice, Vinay Sharma, who was in the company of a former administrator for Federal Procurement Policy at the Office of Management and Budget, Dr Allan V. Burman, who interacted with Adwoa Safo at the offices in the United States of America, noted that the establishment of the Ministry for Public Procurement is apt since a similar office exists in their country to streamline procurement at the federal level.
The two procurement experts commended President Akufo-Addo and Ms Adwoa Safo for doing their best to help the marginalized in the society.
They indicated that the United States of America has a similar policy where 23 percent of all government contracts are reserved for women-owned firms.
Mr Sharma indicated that a study they did in Ghana revealed that only 1 percent of the total government contracts are awarded to women-owned firms, noting that the situation is very bad and does not encourage women to bid for government contracts.
He was optimistic the 30% policy, when rolled out, would economically empower women and the other marginalized groups in the society to be more productive to contribute towards the country’s development.
The two leaders were also happy with the President’s commitment to fighting corruption in procurement through the establishment of the Office of the Special Prosecutor in accordance with Section 3 (a) of the Act.
Owing to the good and transparent policies that Ms Safo is introducing, the World Bank and the IMF have invited her to attend their upcoming spring meetings in Washington DC.