PPDA consults on local content promotion

The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has held consultations with different stakeholders on the upcoming guidelines on reservation schemes to promote local content in public procurement.

The guidelines are part of a wider government initiative to encourage government Procuring and Disposing Entities (PDEs) to consume locally available goods and services.

In a stakeholders' meeting that was attended by heads of the procurement function at government ministries and departments, industry leaders from the private sector, PPDA executive director Cornelia Sabiiti explained why the new guidelines are coming on board.

"The PPDA law already provides for preference schemes, however, we have noticed that these schemes are quite limited. They are targeted only at price, so you find that after technical evaluation, we look at a percentage of the foreign bid, and we charge a margin of preference of 15% for goods, 7% for works and services," she said at the meeting yesterday at Statistics House.

"Preference schemes do not go far enough to protect local bidders, because most of them fall out before they even reach the price preference. Let us start with the local companies from the beginning, let them compete in their special club, and that is what we call reservation schemes."

"We have realized that many entities are not using these preference schemes even where they are mandated at the open bidding."

Gideon Badagawa, the executive director of the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) said an effective communication strategy is needed for the guidelines to be effective.

 "We have a law, and a policy is about to be launched, but how much acceptance is with the accounting officer and the procuring and disposing entities?"

 "It is these people who are going to benefit from these schemes, so they must own the guidelines. Once they move away from this, they may not be able to able to benefit."

The new guidelines are set to come into force next month