Kigali: These Issues on the executive committee’s table in table in kigali

An Extraordinary General Assembly of the African Public Procurement Network (Racop) will be held from 7 to 8 March 2024 in Kigali, Rwanda. This is a crucial event in the running of
the organization, as it should enable the Land of a Thousand Hills to inherit the presidency of the Network for 2024, following in the footsteps of Côte d’Ivoire.

Slowly but surely, the African Public Procurement Network (APPCN) is weaving its web. Since its creation in 2018, the structure has been working hard to ensure that its governance bodies function in the best possible way. RACOP is preparing to hold an Extraordinary General Assembly in Rwanda from 7 to 8 March.

The meeting will be held in a hybrid format, allowing both face-to-face and online participation. This is an important step in the life and development of this network, which has some forty member countries. Côte d’Ivoire will be handing over the presidency of RACOP for 2024 to the Land of a Thousand Hills.

This decision was taken during the Third General Assembly (TAG) held in Abidjan from 13 to 16 November 2023. The AGM also saw the presentation of the activity report for 2022-2023 and the identification of prospects.

The Executive Committee will have its work cut out

In the dynamic city of Kigali, the handover ceremony for the RACOP presidency will be organised. But that’s not all. Indeed, the Executive Committee will have many other items on its agenda. Elected in Eswatini in 2022 and comprising various representatives of the sub-regional networks of West, East, South, North and Central Africa, this Executive Committee will also have to examine the observations of the General Assembly on the main documents of RACOP, in particular the Statutes and the Rules of Procedure; approve the manuals of procedures; validate the 2024 business plan, including the proposed operations, the income, the provisional budget, the financing plan and the knowledge creation and sharing plan for 2024. The Executive Committee will also be tasked with selecting a theme and concept note for the Fourth General Assembly to be hosted by Rwanda later this year, probably in the last quarter of 2024.

RACOP: the expression of a need

RACOP was set up in response to a need: to promote development and regional integration through active cooperation between its members with a view to improving public procurement. Indeed, the 43 RACOP member countries face many challenges in ensuring that they have robust public procurement systems that are efficient, transparent, fair and deliver value for money in the procurement of goods, works and services. These challenges are mainly related to procurement policy, legal and institutional frameworks, professionalization of public procurement, use of new innovative technologies, capacity building of public and private stakeholders, governance, including fraud and corruption, and regional integration. To achieve its objectives, the network has become a regular and sustainable learning and networking platform for its members.