Public procurement in Tanzania

Law and regulator

The Public Procurement Act 2023 was assented to on 29 September 2023 and repeals the Public Procurement Act of 2011 ¹. PPRA published an English translation under Government Notice No. 813, dated 20 September 2024 ¹. PPRA reported on 12 June 2024 that the law would take effect on 17 June 2024 under Government Notice No. 455 ².

Section 8 continues the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority as a body corporate ¹. PPRA says it was set up in May 2005 after the Public Procurement Act 2004, taking over from the Central Tender Board ³. Its functions include monitoring compliance, issuing standard tender documents and publishing procurement opportunities and awards ³.

PPRA said the 2023 law makes use of the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST) mandatory for all procurement and gives PPRA power to set price caps ².

Procurement methods

Section 75(1) says entities must use competitive tendering, with the specific method set by regulations by type and value of the purchase ¹. Section 3 defines competitive tendering as inviting suppliers, contractors or consultants to compete in submitting priced tenders ¹.

• Restricted tendering is allowed where suppliers are prequalified, where urgency makes open tendering impracticable, or where social objectives call for local community participation, under section 75(2) ¹.
• Urgency counts only if it was not foreseeable and not caused by the entity's own delay, and the entity must record its reasons, under section 75(3) ¹.
• Seasonal goods such as grain, fuel and fertiliser are bought on a seasonal basis, under section 75(4) ¹.
• Force account is covered in section 76 and now has a threshold, per PPRA ^1,2.
• Consultants are selected under section 92 ¹.

Emergency, direct and single source purchases

Section 77 lets the accounting officer authorise emergency procurement in the public interest ¹. It must meet one of three tests: a threat to life, health or safety from a disaster, irreparable harm to government functions or public property, or an urgent need for health commodities ¹. Limits, methods and advertising rules may be waived, but tender evaluation and the accounting officer's approval may not ¹.

Section 78 lets an entity buy directly from a manufacturer, dealer, wholesaler or service provider to get value for money on price, quality and delivery ¹. The Minister may make regulations listing the goods and services that qualify and the procedure ¹.

Section 69(5) names the single source method among methods exempt from the notice of intention to award ¹. The Act text reviewed for this page does not list single source conditions in one section ¹.

Complaints and appeals

After a tender decision, the accounting officer must send all tenderers a notice of intention to award, and tenderers have five working days to complain, under section 69(4) ¹. Sections 119 to 125 cover the right to review, complaints to the accounting officer, appeals to the Appeals Authority and judicial review ¹.

The PPAA guidance page says an appeal against an accounting officer's decision is due within five working days of learning of it ⁶. An appeal against blacklisting by PPRA is due within 21 days ⁶. Section 72(6) of the Act gives the same 21 days for debarred tenderers ¹. The PPAA says it decides within 40 days of registering an appeal ⁶.

The PPAA handles disputes before and at award, and it does not handle complaints about contract implementation ⁵. Its home page links to the Act, the regulations, the appeals rules and the fee schedule ⁴.

PPPs and unsolicited proposals

The Public Private Partnership (Amendment) Act 2023, Act No. 4 of 2023, was published on 14 July 2023 ⁷. It amends section 15 of the principal PPP Act ⁷.

Under the amended section 15(3), the Minister may exempt a project from competitive bidding on the recommendation of the PPP Steering Committee ⁷. One of three conditions must apply: urgent need with other procurement impracticable and not foreseeable, intellectual property rights held by the private party over key technology, or exclusive rights with no reasonable alternative ⁷. Under section 15(4), once an unsolicited project is exempted, the Government and the proponent negotiate the agreement ⁷.