PLATFORM APPROACH PLATFORM APPROACH TO IMPROVINGTO IMPROVING

PUBLIC PUBLIC PROCUREMENT PROCUREMENT

SYSTEMSSYSTEMSIN FRAGILE STATESIN FRAGILE STATES

Serge N’GUESSAN, Ph.D.GOVERNANCE, ECONOMIC & FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK

HIGH LEVEL FORUM

How to measure, categorize, or rank fragility vary, butHow to measure, categorize, or rank fragility vary, butthree main characteristics stand out: three main characteristics stand out: a witches’ brew ofa witches’ brew ofineffective government, poverty, and conflict.ineffective government, poverty, and conflict.

““A defining characteristic of fragile states is theA defining characteristic of fragile states is the

unavailability or extremely poor delivery ofunavailability or extremely poor delivery of public services - health, education, water supplypublic services - health, education, water supply and sanitation, judiciary, security, etc.”and sanitation, judiciary, security, etc.” (Margaret Kilo , Head of Fragile States Unit, AfDB)

This definition includes post-crisis and transitional countries.

Other definitionsOther definitions:

CSRC: State significantly susceptible to crisis in one or more subsystems

DfiD: Government cannot or will not deliver core functions to the population

DEFINITION OF FRAGILE STATES

• Failure to protect people and their property, • Failure to deliver basic services, • Decreasing livelihood security, • Weak public financial management.

List of fragile States in Africa (BY AfDB)

The Bank classifies countries as fragile if they have a composite averaged AfDB and World Bank’s country policy and institutional assessment (CPIA) score of 3.2 or below.

Over the 2007/08 year twenty (20) regional member countries were classified as fragile using the CPIA definition:

Angola, Burundi, Central Africa Republic, Chad, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,

Liberia, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo and Zimbabwe.

.In fact, there is a diversity of situations but all African States are fragile in some respects and States move in and out of fragility

CHARACTERISTICS OF FRAGILE STATES

Fragility does not just mean low growth but failure in the normal growth process

PROCUREMENT SPECIFIC ISSUES

HIGH DEMAND AND COSTS OF RECONSTRUCTION OR RECOVERY OPERATIONS (varying in average from 0.5 to 2 billion

USD/country)

LACK OF RESOURCES Deficient InstitutionsVery limited financial resources from national budget Very low procurement budgetVery limited services providers (inexistent or unorganized private sector) Lack of human resources, no trained procurement staff.

DONORS DEPENDENCE Obligation to use donors’ procurement system Outsourcing of procurement expertise

IS PROCUREMENT REFORM NEEDED IN FRAGILE STATES?

The ability of the African Fragile States to use procurement to support their reconstruction and development is currently constrained by:

conflicting interests amongst donors and beneficiary government The failure of international agencies to balance objectives and Lack of knowledge among procurement officials, who should be aware of their

country social and economic development needs Need to explore opportunities to deliver more positive development outcomes,

while still observing fairness, transparency, economy and efficiency in procurement.

Procurement is often still seen as administrative function in which compliance with regulations is the most valued performance criteria

PROCUREMENT SPECIFIC ISSUESPROCUREMENT SPECIFIC ISSUES

A UNIVERSAL PACKAGE CONCERNING THE 4 OECD/DAC PILLARS: Legislative framework, Institutional and Management Capacity, Integrity and Transparency, Procurement Operations and market

ORGANIZATION OF THE REVIEW:

System evaluation (CPAR), elaboration of Action Plan, evaluation of the results

MAIN CONSTRAINTS:

Limited prioritization of the different actions (short, medium or long term)Obligation to act simultaneously in the four pillars. Resistance to change remaining a daunting change

MARGINAL PROGRESS AND OVERALLMARGINAL PROGRESS AND OVERALL UNSATISFACTORY RESULTS UNSATISFACTORY RESULTS

“Those who have struggled with this problem on the ground are no

doubt correct when they caution that -no one size fits all-” Robert B. Zoellick’s, President of the World Bank, speech at the International Institute for

Strategic Studies. September 12, 2008

THE CURRENT APPROACH

Definition:An approach step (platform) by step according to the country’s

possibilitiesEach platform or level is defined in terms of improved outcomes The number and definition of platforms depend on the local context The key characteristics are: facilitating a change management process to enable genuine

government leadership (he decides its priorities)Introducing a politically acceptable pace of sequenced reforms Each platform increases competence over a manageable timeframeMain Steps1. the Government is defining exactly what it wants to achieve over a

long-term timeframe, its vision (procurement and development)2. Defining its priorities and obtaining agreement of donors3. Focusing on what is done (internal control),4. Enabling more accountability for performance management (for

example: merit-based pay initiatives)

AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH:

THE “PLATFORM” APPROACH

R D CCOMPARISON RESULTS OBTAINED AND

POSSIBILITIES

CURRENT APPROACH

2001 : creation of the Central Coordination Bureau (BCECO)

2003 : the Bceco in charge of projects financed by RDC funds,

2005-03 : Public Procurement Reform Commission installed

2006-02: working group on harmonization

2008-12 : a New Public Procurement Code is to be prepared

2009: What is the situation?

ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

2001-2002 : Defining the long term vision

2002-2003 : Defining priorities according to existing means (financial, material

and human) 2004 : Adoption of the first

platform including Indicators

2005 -2008 : Adoption of the 2 platforms

2009 : Some Positive Results achieved

SIERRA LEONECOMPARISON RESULTS OBTAINED AND

POSSIBILITIES

CURRENT APPROACH

2002-01: Request for assistance2003-03: Procurement Reform Steering

Committee established

2004-03: Interim Rules

2004-12: National Public Procurement Bill approved by

the Cabinet 2006-08: Approval by Parliament, Manual

and Regulations edited

2006-12: Sierra Leone selected for being tested by OECD/WB 2007-03: Procurement plans for

18 benchmarks established

2009 How is the situation?

ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

2002-2003: Defining the long term vision

2003-2004: Defining priorities according to existing means (financial, material and human)

2004 : Adoption of the first platform including indicators

2008: Adoption of the 2 platforms

2009 : Some Positive Results obtained

ALTERNATIVE APPROACH

CHALLENGESNEEDS GOOD SEQUENCING A bad choice will create inappropriate and inefficient means LIMITED FINANCIAL SUPPORT Support must be obtained for limited actionsGOOD UNDERSTANDING OF POLITICAL AND INSTITUTIONAL CONTEXTNECESSITY OF COORDINATION: The different elements are led by different development agencies The set of measures don't provide a basis for long-term development

PLATFORM REALISATION TIME MAY BE LONG “Development is a marathon, not a sprint”

CONCLUSION

• REAL COUNTRY OWNERSHIP OF REFORM PROCESS

• CLEAR VISION OF EXPECTED RESULTS

• THE PROGRAM IS MADE BY THE COUNTRY ACCORDING TO ITS REAL FINANCIAL POSSIBILITIES

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS APPROACH? IS WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THIS APPROACH? IS THE PLATFORM FEASIBLE IN OUR FRAGILE STATESTHE PLATFORM FEASIBLE IN OUR FRAGILE STATES