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APPN | RACOP

Sixth General Assembly of the RACOP

The General Assembly

The supreme decision-making body of the network, the General Assembly brings together every year the heads of national public procurement authorities and institutions.

RACOP

The African Public Procurement Network was created in Lomé (Togo) in October 2018 with the signing of its Statutes. It brings together the public procurement regulatory bodies of African countries, organised in five sub-regional networks: North, East, West, Central and Southern Africa.

Its Technical Secretariat is based in Lomé. The General Assembly sets the strategic direction, reviews progress and elects the leadership of the network.

A committed host country

Hosted by Sierra Leone, the Assembly builds on its recent reforms: roll-out of the Salone e-GP electronic procurement system, pilot requisition modules and a new public procurement law being drafted.

Theme

Strengthening public procurement for economic transformation, regional integration and resilience in Africa

Harmonising rules, developing regional e-procurement systems, fostering cross-border collaboration and professionalising the procurement function: these are levers to reduce trade barriers and create larger, more competitive regional markets.

Emerging technologies — e-procurement, artificial intelligence, data analytics — offer real opportunities, provided they rest on strong institutions, reliable data and cybersecurity safeguards.

Objectives

  1. Facilitate knowledge sharing on trends, innovations, challenges and good practices.
  2. Strengthen procurement systems: capacity, governance, transparency, accountability and professionalisation.
  3. Promote digital, inclusive and sustainable procurement, with greater participation of women, youth, SMEs and local businesses.
  4. Strengthen regional cooperation and peer learning.
  5. Review the progress of RACOP and agree on the strategic priorities of the next phase.

Expected outcomes

  • Stronger knowledge sharing on innovative, digital, inclusive and sustainable practices.
  • Documented lessons learned and good practices.
  • Recommendations on digital transformation and on inclusive, sustainable procurement.
  • A revised or updated RACOP regional action plan.
  • Strategic priorities agreed for the next implementation period.
  • Stronger partnerships with development partners, the private sector, civil society and academia.
  • A communiqué or final declaration recording decisions and commitments.