This book examines the regulatory rules on public procurement in selected African countries and provides a comparative analysis of key regulatory issues.

"Public procurement law governs the acquisition of the goods and services that a state needs to fulfil its public functions. This area of law has seen tremendous development globally in recent years, and Africa is no exception.In many African countries there have been sweeping reforms in the regulatory regimes that govern public procurement. This trend shows no signs of slowing down.On the African continent, public procurement law is closely tied to pressing policy issues: from development plans to donor aid and international lending, to anti-corruption agendas and capacity challenges, to public finance management, enforceable remedies under the rule of law, and human rights. This book investigates a number of these themes to foster an understanding of public procurement law in the context of contemporary Africa."--Back cover.

Public procurement regulation in Africa is not widely researched. To address the shortage of scholarship in this area and to promote future research, this book analyses the law governing public procurement in a number of African systems and looks at key themes relevant to all African states. Part I discusses the regulatory regimes of nine African systems using a common framework, providing both a focused view of these African systems and an accessible comparative perspective. In Part II, key regulatory issues in public procurement that are particularly relevant in the African context are assessed through a comparative approach. The chapters consider the influence of international regulatory regimes (particularly the UNCITRAL Model Law on procurement) on African systems and provide insights into the way public procurement regulation is approached in Africa.

This book presents an interdisciplinary exploration of the governance of public procurement reform in Africa. Through a bottom-up approach to case studies and comparative analyses, scholars, practitioners, and social activists write about the organizational mechanisms and implementation gaps in public procurement governance in light of the general premises of national reform. Reforming the ways in which government purchases works, goods, and services from the private sector is one of the most sweeping policy reform undertaken in Africa in the past decade. Despite the transnational scope of policy change, very little is known about the mechanisms of public procurement governance at the subnational level. The argument in this volume is that policy reforms that mitigate contractual hazards along the three-dimensional “law-politics-business matrix” are more likely to bring about meaningful institutional transformation and broader social accountability. Key to substantive transformation of public procurement is the revitalization and professionalization of the public sector to meet the opportunities and challenges of development by contract.

Originally an important but relatively obscure plurilateral instrument, the WTO Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) is now becoming a pillar of the WTO system as a result of important developments since the Uruguay Round. This collection examines the issues and challenges that this raises for the GPA, as well as future prospects for addressing government procurement at a multilateral level. Coverage includes issues relating to pending accessions to the GPA, particularly those of developing countries with a large state sector such as China; the revised (provisionally agreed) GPA text of 2006, including provisions on electronic procurement and Special and Differential Treatment for Developing Countries; and procurement provisions in regional trade agreements and their significance for the multilateral system. Attention is also given to emerging issues, especially those concerning environmental, social and SME policy; competition law; and the implications of the recent economic crisis.

This collection of essays on the reform of public procurement law and policy honours the contribution of Sue Arrowsmith as the leading scholar in the field. The book is divided into 3 main parts – on the UK, the EU, and the world – and focuses on central reform themes that have characterised the evolution of public procurement law and policy in the past decades. These include sustainability, complex contracts, review and remedies, electronic procurement, and defence procurement, as well as topics such as debarment, the overall development of EU procurement reform, the very nature of procurement law, or the regulation of UK procurement law after Brexit. The book also covers the dynamic reform process of the EU Procurement Directives and case law, the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement, the WTO Government Procurement Agreement, and national systems including the US, China, Africa, and the UK. The chapters are written by experts in specific topics of procurement reform from Africa, Asia, the Americas, and Europe with backgrounds in academia, legal practice, and international organisations. The reader is provided with a diverse set of insights into the objectives, approaches, priorities, and future direction of public procurement reform.

This timely work reflects on the role and obligations of the state as a buyer of goods and services, from the dual disciplinary perspectives of public procurement and human rights. Through theoretical and doctrinal analyses, and practice-focused case studies, it interrogates the evolving character of public procurement as an interface for multiple normative regimes and competing policies. Challenging the prevailing paradigm which subordinates human rights to narrowly-defined economic goals, insightful contributions advance a compelling case for greater inter-disciplinarity and policy coherence as crucial to realising international policies such as those embodied in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights and 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.