SMEs train on public contract acquisition procedures

Insufficient funds, production tools and qualified workforce continually plague the sector.

Management staff of small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, will round off training on public contract procedures and how to obtain a contract this Thursday. Participants are from the 100 enterprises of the Sub-contracting and Partnership Exchange of Cameroon (SPX-CMR) working in the sector of construction.

The objective is to enhance mastery of the composition of documents for contract award and to enhance their competitiveness in the public contract landscape, among others. The seminar, which started October 28 and ends October 30, seeks to build the capacity of enterprise management.

Lack of mastery marred project execution while many enterprises were unable to win a contract. The seminar whose theme is “Public contracts system; the aspect of contract works,” according to Yameni Evariste, SPX-CMR Director, was motivated by a lack of mastery of public contract procedures and poor execution of some projects, among SMEs, among others.

For three days the participants have been learning the public contract system of Cameroon, the award of contracts, criteria for the evaluation of public contracts, the structure and contents of required documents, control and follow up of the execution of projects. One of the participants, who asked not to be named, underscored the following challenges facing the SMEs: inadequate funds and production tools, unqualified workforce, corruption and poor mastery of the public contract procedure.

According to the SPX-CMR Director, the aim is to ease access to public contracts to SMEs, encourage transparency and ensure that many Cameroonians are able to have certified workforce like in the area of welding.

The Public Contracts Regulatory Agency (ARMP) and the SPX-CMR signed a convention on July 16, 2014, to facilitate the access of SMEs / SMIs to public control within the framework of the organisation of the private sector, in order to enhance the creation of decent job in the execution of public contracts and decentralised public services.