Vice President Constantino Chiwenga today officially opened the inaugural Southern African Public Procurement Forum (SAPPF) in Harare, calling for public procurement systems to be transformed into strategic tools for sustainable development and regional integration.
The two-day forum, hosted by Zimbabwe in partnership with Southern African public procurement regulatory authorities, is being held under the theme: “Transforming Public Procurement for Sustainable Growth and Regional Integration.”
Addressing policymakers, regulators, development partners and procurement professionals, Chiwenga said public procurement remains a critical pillar of governance and economic development.
“Public procurement remains one of the most important pillars of governance. It determines how effectively public services reach our people and how public resources are translated into roads, hospitals, schools, energy infrastructure, water systems and other services that improve livelihoods,” he said.
Chiwenga noted that procurement expenditure accounts for a substantial share of national budgets and directly influences infrastructure development, industrialisation, job creation and investment attraction.
He said growing regional integration under the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area requires procurement systems that transcend national boundaries.
“Our economies are increasingly interconnected, while our development challenges are increasingly shared. Our solutions must also become increasingly collaborative,” he said.
The Vice President urged member states to harmonise procurement regulations to support cross-border infrastructure projects and trade, recognise professional procurement qualifications across borders, develop interoperable electronic procurement systems and establish annual peer-review mechanisms.
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During the event, Chiwenga also launched Zimbabwe’s Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS) Report 2026, describing its completion within eight months as a significant achievement compared to the global average of 18 months.
“This achievement demonstrates Zimbabwe’s commitment to reform, institutional strengthening and continuous improvement,” he said.
The MAPS assessment, developed by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, identified gaps in accountability systems, electronic government procurement legal frameworks and sustainable procurement practices.
Chiwenga said the Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) had already developed a 10-point strategic action plan to address the shortcomings through legislative reforms, stronger oversight mechanisms and expanded electronic procurement systems integrated with public financial management platforms.
While endorsing digital transformation, he warned that technology alone could not eliminate procurement irregularities.
“Many of the challenges confronting public procurement, including direct procurement abuse, conflicts of interest and limited public participation, are not solely technical in nature. They require strong institutions, political commitment and effective enforcement mechanisms,” he said.
Reaffirming the government’s commitment to transparency and accountability, Chiwenga said no individual should be above the law and no procurement process should be beyond scrutiny.
He called on Southern African countries to strengthen procurement authorities, build institutional capacity, protect whistleblowers and bolster anti-corruption efforts.
The forum comes two months after Zimbabwe handed over the chairmanship of the African Public Procurement Network, during which it championed knowledge-sharing, professionalisation and capacity-building initiatives across the continent.
“Let this forum become the place where policy meets implementation, where benchmarking becomes performance, and where regional cooperation delivers measurable results,” Chiwenga said.
