Malawi hails COMESA Regional Procurement Market

Under the regional procurement market, suppliers from anywhere within the member countries will be free to bid for tenders floated by any country for the procurement of public goods and services.

“The system would smoothen the flow of trade among member countries in the region because sometimes it does not make sense for these countries to import goods and services from Europe, Asia or America when the same can be sourced within the region,” said Malawi's director of procurement, Bright Mangulama.

COMESA project manager for procurement, Colas Ziki, disclosed during a week-long COMESA in-country capacity building workshop in public procurement administration in Lilongwe on Tuesday, 11 August 2009 that they have created a COMESA procurement website where member states can publicise their public procurement requirements that may be sourced within the region.

Since the Khartoum summit in 2003, member countries have been integrating their systems by modernising and harmonising them following guidelines from COMESA's Procurement Reforms and Capacity Project (EPRCP).