CoST Uganda under its intervention, “Promoting fair business practices between Government and the private sector in Uganda,” analyzed the existing infrastructure data on the Government Procurement Portal (GPP) for several objectives. These were, first and foremost, the interpretation of government law and disclosure data and fair business practices between government and providers in Uganda. The other objective was to provide a baseline for engagement between Government and the Private Sector. Lastly, to identify policy intervention areas for increased private sector participation in public procurement processes. To achieve these objectives, the assessment used data from 18 Procuring and disposing entities (PDEs) disclosed on the GPP from 2018 to January 2020.
The analysis focused on five indicators: (i) proactive disclosure (41 data points); (ii) time overruns; (iii) cost overruns; (iv) tender management; and (v) transparency in procurement and project delivery. The Pivot table Data analysis software was used to analyze the datasets on procurement plans, bid invitations, bid submissions, best-evaluated bidders, and awarded contracts based on the CoST Infrastructure Data Standard and the Open Contracting for Infrastructure Data Standard (OC4IDS).
Results from the analysis reveal that the level of proactive disclosure was low, at 49%. Moreover, most projects analyzed had both cost and time overruns. On tender management, the average bids per tender were 7.3, suggesting that procurement of infrastructure projects was largely competitive, although 32% of the projects went through Open domestic bidding. In regards to procurement and project delivery transparency, 66.7% of the procurement data points were disclosed.
The findings suggest there is a need for engagement between Government and the Private Sector to discuss practical ways necessary to improve the disclosure and increased participation in public procurement processes.