Open bidding cheaper for govt - CPBN

The outgoing chairperson of the Central Procurement Board of Namibia (CPBN), Amon Ngavetene, says government’s open bidding process has led to it enjoying more savings and also gives credibility to the bidding process.He made the remarks during his last press briefing recently where he gave an update on CPBN’s activities over the last year.“The thing that makes it difficult to do direct procurement is that it means it will direct most procurement to open advertised bidding, which then becomes a competitive bidding process, and the government will pay market-related prices. But most importantly, [open bidding] is a system that has potential to save everyone [money], especially for those who have an interest in doing business with government,” Ngavetene said.The bidding process further lent itself to transparency, and gave bidders enough leeway to challenge successful bids awarded by the CPBN if they felt hard done by, he added. “As a bidder, you have enough safeguards if you know that the process has been unfair.”Set asideThis follows recent challenges lodged by bidders, most notably a recent High Court judgment which has set aside the CPBN’s choice of Cospharm Investments as the winning bidder to supply pharmaceutical products to the health ministry at a cost of about N$1.3 billion.This was a victory for businessman Shapwa Kanyama, who filed an application to have the tender award set aside.His company, Africure Pharmaceuticals Namibia, filed a review application in the High Court after its initial tender award was changed and substantially reduced by the board when it reconsidered an earlier decision.Meanwhile, 20 awards were awarded through open advertised bidding process to the value of N$7.2 billion, in comparison to the same number of awards to the value of N$2.2 billion in the previous financial year, the CPBN said.In the same vein, the procurement board said there was an increase in the number of procurement contracts awarded through direct procurement from two contracts awarded during the 2022-2023 financial year to the value of N$89 million, in comparison to eight contracts to the value of N$904 million the previous year, representing a 90% increase.In terms of total bids issued, the CPBN said from the N$8.1 billion awards, N$7.1 billion worth of contracts were awarded to Namibians, including competitive and direct procurement.

Open bidding cheaper for govt - CPBN

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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Open bidding cheaper for govt - CPBN

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Namibian Sun 2025-09-18

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