By Martha Mbena and Jordan Mbwambo, Dodoma
Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar are strengthening cooperation in public procurement by sharing experience on the use of a digital registry designed to improve the management of procurement and supplies personnel across government.
Officials from Tanzania’s Ministry of Finance, through the Public Procurement Policy Department, and Zanzibar’s Ministry of Finance and Planning, through its Public Policy Management Department, met in Dodoma to exchange knowledge on the design and development of the Procurement and Supplies Personnel Information System (PSPIS).
The system provides a centralised platform for managing information on government procurement and supplies officers and supports the implementation of Section 7(j) of the Public Procurement Act No. 10 of 2023.
The provision gives the Ministry responsibility for advising on the structure and appointment of heads of Procurement Management Units (PMUs), as well as recommending the transfer of procurement and supplies personnel.
Speaking during the working session, Acting Commissioner for Public Procurement Policy at the Ministry of Finance, Alex Haraba, described PSPIS as an important tool for improving the Government’s access to accurate and timely information on procurement and supplies personnel.
“Use of the system enables information on procurement and supplies officers to be collected and managed efficiently, helping the Government make decisions based on accurate and timely information,” Haraba said.
He said the data would support human-resource planning, identification of staffing needs, capacity building and the provision of policy and operational advice.
The digital registry is also intended to provide government with accurate, verified and regularly updated records of personnel working in procurement and supplies functions within Procurement Management Units.
For a public sector that handles significant volumes of government expenditure through procurement, maintaining reliable information on the professionals responsible for these processes is increasingly important.
The working session also examined the technical side of the system. Specialists from the Ministry of Finance’s Department of Financial Systems Management and Internal Services demonstrated how PSPIS is used and explained how it has been integrated with the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST).
The integration is intended to facilitate accurate information exchange between the two systems and strengthen the Government’s ability to manage procurement-related personnel information alongside its broader electronic public procurement infrastructure.
The discussions underline the growing role of digital systems in modernising public procurement. Beyond automating administrative processes, reliable digital records can help government institutions identify skills gaps, plan staffing, monitor personnel and make better-informed decisions on deployment and professional development.
The Dodoma meeting also provided an opportunity for Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar to exchange experience and strengthen institutional cooperation in managing the public procurement and supplies profession.
For both sides, the wider objective is to use digital tools to improve public-sector performance while ensuring that procurement functions are supported by reliable personnel data and stronger administrative systems.
The session therefore marks another step towards a more integrated and data-driven approach to public procurement management, with PSPIS and NeST providing complementary digital infrastructure for strengthening efficiency, accountability and decision-making across government.
