CHAMWE KAIRA
Central Procurement Board of Namibia is soon expected to invite bids for Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA)’s new Integrated Business Registration System.
The implementing of the system is key if Namibia is to avoid being greylisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for falling short of certain international standards for combatting money laundering and other serious financial crimes.
The board’s manager of stakeholders’ engagement, Johanna Kambala told Observer Money that once the Standard Bidding Document (SBD) is approved by the board, an Invitation for Bids (Advertisement) will be issued in the market for fair competition.
“This will be followed by the evaluation process before an award is made to the successful bidder,” she said.
Kambala said the board adjudicated on the Individual Procurement Plan (IPP) and Standard Bidding Document (SBD) for the Supply, Delivery, Implementation, Commissioning, Support, and Maintenance of an Integrated Business Registration System (IBRS) for the Business and Intellectual Property Authority (BIPA) at its meeting held on 13 July.
She said the board issued resolutions to BIPA for improvement of the SBD of which BIPA made a resubmission of the documentations on 21 July.
“This re-submission will be adjudicated at the board meeting scheduled for 3 August,” said Kambala.
She said consultations between the board and BIPA is ongoing and the last consultation took place on 31 July 2023.
Commenting on whether, the board will rush the process so that Namibia is not greylisted, Kambala said the board is only mandated to conduct the bidding process on behalf of public entities for the award of contracts for procurement or disposal of assets that exceed the threshold prescribed for public entities. The board only conducts procurements as per the requests of the public Entities following legal processes and timelines as stipulated in the Public Procurement Act.
Kambala explained that the board does not deal with exemptions, all exemption requests are dealt with by the Minister of Finance and Public Enterprises through the Procurement Policy Unit. The requirement for BIPA to procure a Business Registration System came in recent months through recommendations from FATF, the global anti-money laundering, anti-terrorism financing and anti-proliferation financing watchdog.
In order to avert possible Greylisting, the BIPA board has written to its shareholders, giving assurance that BIPA will work around the clock, within the confines of the relevant legislative provisions, to finalise the procurement of the systems.
