By: Winter Chinamale Procurement Innovation Challenge Winner Case Story

1. HOLISTIC PROCUREMENT
REFORM IN POST-CONFLICT
LIBERIA
BY
WINTER CHINAMALE – PROCUREMENT SPECIALIST
WORLD BANK, LIBERIA COUNTRY OFFICE
Procurement Innovation
Challenge Case Story:

2. Presentation Outline
 Background to the Case Story
 Description of the Innovation
 Innovative Procurement Reforms
 Results of the Reform Efforts
 Lessons Learnt and Sustainability
 Can this be replicated?

3. Background to the Case Story
 Liberia’s 14 years of civil war (1999-2003) destroyed
Liberia’s infrastructure, professional workforce and
institutional capacity.
 At the end of the civil war, the public procurement
system had disappeared and the country was left
without skilled procurement practitioners.
 Free from the constraints of adequate institutional
oversight, corruption was rampant
 Yet, with its physical infrastructure in tatters, the
country needed an effective procurement system
more than ever as it tried to rebuild

4. Description of the Innovation
 Reform started with the traditional way of establishing a
Regulatory Framework, resulting in the Public
Procurement and Concessions Act (2005), later revised and
restated in 2010
 Faced an overwhelming lack of capacity, Procurement was
carried out by civil servants without the necessary training
and experience
 As a result, procurement lacked efficiency and
transparency, and was not cost-effective.
 To drive the massive reconstruction effort, the government
adopted a three-pronged approach to procurement
reform, aiming to ensure that all stakeholders (regulatory
monitors, practitioners and suppliers) had the right
knowledge and systems to play their part fully in the new
framework :

5. Innovative Procurement Reforms
 The institutional capacity of PPCC was assessed to define the
commission’s immediate needs so it could be strengthened
 A short-term in-service training program, was begun through an
existing institution, LIPA, to train public sector practitioners in
basic procurement.
 A school was established to deliver an intensive one-year
procurement training course to 25 students per year, for
deployment in the public sector. The program uses a curriculum
adapted from a successful program run by the Millennium
Challenge Corporation (MCC) in Ghana.
 World Bank staff also deliver monthly Procurement Clinics for
both Government and Project Procurement Staff.
 The PPCC began regular training sessions to teach private sector
staff how to submit strong competitive bids through Workshops
and Sensitization Campaigns

6. Graduation of Intensive Procurement School Students

7. Private Sector Workshop

8. Results of the Reform Efforts
 The reforms have strengthened the PPC Commission, enabling it
start procurement monitoring expected of a regulatory body. The
commission now has a website open to the public where it
publishes information including procurement plans and
opportunities. It has also prepared Manuals and SBDs to assist
government procurement entities to comply with the PPC Act.
 Procurement staff capacity has improved, resulting in better
quality documents and reduced lead times for procurement
processes. Skills gaps in procurement practitioners has reduced
especially with first graduates of intensive school deployed in
Ministries
 The percentage of government budget spent rose nine points to
58 percent for the year 2010-11 with these efforts
 Competition among suppliers has also improved over the past 2
years

9. Lessons Learnt and Sustainability
 Strong collaborative effort from both the government and
donors underpinned the entire process
 The reforms were well-balanced across key procurement
stakeholders, so that the PPCC, procurement staff and the
private sector were involved
 Capacity building should also be accompanied by improved
incentive schemes for retention of skilled staff in public
institutions
 As an incentive, the government is developing a procurement
cadre system which will define the minimum training and
qualifications required for a particular procurement role
 Sustainability of the Program is key. Using LIPA and planned
Transfer of intensive Procurement Program to the University
are part of this sustainability effort

10. Can this be Replicated?
 Existing in-Country Training institutions can be used
for in-service Training
 An MOU has now been signed with MCC allowing
the World Bank to share world wide with Bank
member countries using the same approach and
curriculum materials from Ghana

11.  MCC, World Bank, MiDA: Collaborating to
strengthen procurement | Millennium Challenge
Corporation

12. End of Presentation
Thanks for your attention!!!
Questions and Comments are Welcome!!