The Deputy Governor Bank of Uganda (BoU), Michael Atingi-Ego has urged suppliers to embrace technology and invest in the required equipment, systems, and training because it will not be long before the Bank of Uganda’s procurement and disposal processes will be executed through the Government e-procurement portal.
The Deputy Governor gave the remarks at the opening of the sixth annual Bank of Uganda Supplier Conference on the theme, Optimizing Supplier Performance in a Dynamic Environment.
He said “We saw, during the lockdown, that firms, which had already gone digital managed to ensure business continuity, with the transition to working remotely and serving customers electronically.
“To ensure resilience, the entire supply process must be digitalised because if any part remains to require an in-person interaction, or a wet ink signature, or a payment in physical cash, then the “digital chain” is broken and resilience is compromised. Of course, it remains impossible to move cabbage digitally but the processing, payment, delivery, and receiving of the physical items can be digitalised, such as with ordering and receiving items from amazon.com”
National Electronic Government Procurement System
Uganda’s Corporate Finance and Capital Markets Luminary, Miriam Ekirapa Musaali, Passes OnAtingi added: “Indeed, no less than the Government of Uganda is leveraging technology through the adoption of a national Electronic Government Procurement System (e-GP) to improve service delivery in the dynamic contemporary environment.
“The web-based e-procurement system will encompass the total procurement lifecycle, all procurement modalities, and record all procurement activities. It will maintain efficient, complete and up-to-date public procurement information for all public agencies of Uganda. The system is expected to support digital/electronic signatures of documents, forms and communications, among others, in conformity with the National Information Security Framework of Uganda.”
He appealed to the suppliers to aim at being resilient as this will make supply chains more diverse, more flexible, and more flexible.
He said: “Aim to be a resilient player, partly by building relationships with multiple partners for inputs, building several links to your customers, and securing partnerships including with competitors to share infrastructure or bargain collectively as the need may be. Ultimately, this will make supply chains more diverse, more flexible, and more integrated.”
