Digital procurement hits 14.5tri/-

ARUSHA: THE government processed 181,057 contract awards worth 14.5tri/- through the National e-Procurement System (NeST) during the 2025/26 financial year, marking a major milestone in the digitalisation of public procurement to enhance efficiency, transparency and accountability. The figures were revealed yesterday by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) Director General, Mr Dennis Simba, during the opening of the 10th Public Procurement Conference in Arusha. The conference, which brought together procurement professionals, policymakers, private sector representatives and development partners, was officiated by the Arusha Regional Administrative Secretary, Dr Toba Nguvila, on behalf of the Minister for Finance, Ambassador Khamis Mussa Omar.

Mr Simba said the figures demonstrate the growing adoption of the digital procurement platform across government institutions and its contribution to improving transparency and accountability in the use of public resources. As of June 30, this year, a total of 286,903 tenders had been advertised through NeST, while 181,057 contract awards worth 14.5tri/- had been processed through the system. Since its launch in 2023, NeST has registered 45,270 approved suppliers, including 42,827 local firms (95 per cent) and 2,379 foreign suppliers (5 per cent).

The platform also serves 62,847 procuring entities with 161,704 registered users. Mr Simba said PPRA has continued training users and facilitating the registration of special groups, resulting in 23,590 members of special groups being enrolled on NeST since its rollout in July 2023. As of July 28, this year, the groups had secured 743 contracts worth 53.68bn/-, compared with contracts valued at less than 5bn/- during the corresponding period last year.

“This is a significant achievement and demonstrates the progress made in ensuring that special groups benefit from public procurement opportunities,” he said. Mr Simba noted that NeST, whose development began in July 2022 before its official rollout a year later, now comprises six core modules covering supplier registration, electronic tendering, contract management, payments, reverse auctions and the e-Catalogue. He added that PPRA has introduced a real-time risk monitoring module that analyses procurement transactions daily to detect early warning signs, including bid-rigging, collusion, unjustified disqualifica…