Cameroon begins public contract bidding via internet

Since January 2016, the Cameroonian Ministry of Public Procurement has published eight calls for tenders on its platform labelled Cameroon Online Electronic Procurement System, accessible through the website of this ministerial department.

However, as Jacques Ayé’e, Head of the Information Systems Division of this ministry, laments, no economic operator has yet tried to submit their application to these calls for tenders via internet.

Well, the applicants are slow to take ownership of this innovation and continue to favour the paperwork route. According to Jacques Ayé’e, interviewed on the subject by the pro-government daily, this reluctance can be explained by the fears of the economic operators interested in the offers, to have their applications viewed by other applicants with whom they are in competition.

Doubts quickly dispelled by the Head of the Information Systems Division of the Ministry of Public Procurement, who specifies that the system has been set to be used with a key to be purchased at the price of FCFA 20,000 from the National ICT Agency, in order to secure and guarantee to each applicant the confidentiality of their offer.

Bidding for public contracts via internet is the result of a project called e-Procurement, financed with the support of the Republic of Korea.

It is meant to equip the country with a more efficient public procurement system, in particular through reducing delays and corruption.