Electronic procurement adoption in Zimbabwe's public sector: examining the benefits, shortcomings and the critical success factors

Abstract

The Government of Zimbabwe adopted the electronic procurement system (e-procurement) as one of the substantial strategies to revamp public procurement processes and make the public procurement function more transparent and robust. This paper interrogates the dynamics of e-procurement adoption in Zimbabwe through a review of extant literature undertaken to gauge the level of e-procurement preparedness. As such, research papers in journals, books, newspapers, government publications and electronic resources were used to gather data. The paper examines how the lack of political will has hampered the adoption of an e-procurement system in Zimbabwe. In this regard, the paper recommends that there is a need for the Government of Zimbabwe to demonstrate a full commitment to e-procurement adoption by formulating specific e-procurement governing legislation to guide the adoption of an e-procurement system. The paper also recommends that the training of procurement officers is also critical in preparing them to fully utilise the e-procurement system.