Only five out of 176 public entities submitted their annual procurement plans on time for the 2025/26 financial year, according to a new bulletin from Procurement Tracker Namibia.
This represents just 3% compliance, despite legal requirements for timely submissions.
The Public Procurement Amendment Act of 2022 requires public entities to submit procurement plans to the Procurement Policy Unit (PPU) by the end of December—at least three months before the start of the financial year.
However, by 31 July 2025, only 71 plans had been submitted, equating to just 40% of the total number of entities.
“By 31 July 2025, only 71 annual procurement plans were viewable via the e-Procurement Portal. That means only about 40% of public entities had submitted their plans to the PPU for the 2025/26 financial year,” said Frederico Links, Research Associate at the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), speaking at the launch of the tracker.
He further noted that only five of these submissions were made within the required deadline.
The tracker warns that delayed or inaccessible procurement plans undermine transparency, hinder oversight, and can result in inefficiencies in how public resources are allocated.
These findings follow the release of the Methodology for Assessing Procurement Systems (MAPS) report, developed by the World Bank and African Development Bank in collaboration with the PPU.
Launched earlier this year, the MAPS review highlighted deep-rooted weaknesses in Namibia’s procurement system, with the PPU described as under-resourced and lacking the authority to fulfil its oversight role effectively.
As of March 2024, the PPU had just 14 staff—35% below its approved establishment—and operated at a lower institutional rank than the Accounting Officers it is meant to supervise. The MAPS report recommends that the PPU should have at least 46 staff to function properly.
“Part-time staffing in many procurement roles; limited capacity to enforce standards or monitor performance; fragmented oversight of procurement activities across ministries,” Links said, citing the report’s findings.
He explained that the MAPS report calls for a complete overhaul of the PPU, transforming it into a professionally led directorate with a dedicated budget, defined oversight powers, and the authority to issue binding guidelines, approve standardised bidding documents, and carry out compliance inspections.
The recommended reforms also include strengthening the institutional standing of the PPU, ensuring adequate staffing and budgetary support, and clarifying its oversight functions.
Additionally, it suggests the introduction of mandatory training standards, formal certification paths, and regular refresher programmes for procurement officers.
The rollout of a comprehensive e-Government Procurement platform with strong data analytics capabilities is also advised to monitor compliance and flag irregularities.
Finally, the report proposes the creation of a robust monitoring and evaluation framework, which would include annual performance reports to Parliament, procurement dashboards to track levels of competitive bidding, and regular audits.
