Reducing public procurement rule violations in cote d’ivoire: what is the impact of regulatory authority decisions?

Business Science Institute
vor 6 Tagen
4 Min. Lesezeit

Doctor Oumar Ouattara

DBA Business Science Institute

Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire

Introduction

How can the decisions issued by the Autorité Nationale de Régulation des Marchés Publics (ANRMP – National Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) contribute to reducing regulatory violations in the public procurement process? This question highlights a major societal challenge in Côte d’Ivoire, which lies at the heart of this Doctorate in Business Administration research.

To address it, we have progressively explored several sub-questions. First, to describe the institutional landscape, we asked: what are the different types of regulatory violations occurring during the pre-contractual phase of public procurement, and what types of decisions does the ANRMP issue to address these violations? Building on this mapping, it seemed important to examine the evolving trends, particularly over time, regarding these types of violations. Finally, we sought to understand the relationships that may exist between the types of decisions rendered by the ANRMP and the types of regulatory violations, in order to identify the impact of these decisions on the public procurement process during the pre-contractual phase.

Research Impact

Public procurement represents the primary mechanism for executing Côte d’Ivoire’s investment budget. Indeed, the budgetary allocations subject to procurement procedures accounted for 66.2% in 2018, 69.1% in 2019, and 90.2% of the national investment budget in 2020. It is therefore a priority mechanism—one that a state must master effectively.

To ensure the regulation of this vital economic function, the Autorité Nationale de Régulation des Marchés Publics(ANRMP – National Public Procurement Regulatory Authority) was established in Côte d’Ivoire in 2009. Its core mandate is to oversee the enforcement of public procurement regulations. A synthetic and structural analysis of the body of decisions rendered in the context of non-jurisdictional appeals brought before this authority led, through an inductive approach, to both a categorisation of the violations committed and a classification of the resulting decisions. Our research has demonstrated the positive impact of the decisions rendered by the public procurement regulator on both the different stages of the procurement chain and the various institutional functions of the public procurement system in Côte d’Ivoire.

At the institutional level, the decisions of the ANRMP have a positive influence on the procurement, oversight, and regulatory functions. Consequently, in order to further strengthen the institutional framework of public procurement in Côte d’Ivoire, we recommend that the principle of separating these three functions—procurement, oversight, and regulation—be explicitly enshrined in the public procurement regulations.

At the operational level, a correlation exists between denunciation appeals and cases of deliberate inaccuracies, primarily relating to falsified administrative documents. To significantly reduce such cases, we recommend the digitalisation of public services responsible for issuing diplomas and other documents required to demonstrate bidders’ capacities.

Beyond deliberate inaccuracies and fraudulent practices, the other two main categories of regulatory violations concern publicity rules and evaluation procedures. To enhance the implementation of publicity requirements in public procurement, a digital public procurement platform should be established. This platform would centralise all procurement information within a single portal, thereby improving accessibility. Moreover, digitalisation would allow for real-time tracking of the validation process for tender documents by the oversight body, significantly reducing approval delays and improving the quality of tender document reviews. By minimising human contact between bidders and public buyers, such a digital platform would also become a powerful tool in combating fraudulent practices.

We also observed that a significant proportion of appeals related to evaluation procedures were unfounded. This highlights the need to develop practical guides for both public buyers and bidders, to ensure the clearest possible formulation of evaluation criteria, address interpretation biases, and thereby reduce violations related to evaluation procedures.

Finally, the trend in denunciation appeals has shown a steady increase since 2011. It is therefore essential to maintain a low level of procedural formalism for this type of appeal, in order to strengthen stakeholders’ confidence in a more accessible public procurement system.

Research Foundations

The aim of this research was to identify a typology of decisions issued within the field of public procurement regulation. In this regard, Delion (2007) points out that regulation seeks both to facilitate compliance with economic freedoms, to compensate for market deficiencies, and to prevent behaviours that may harm competition, thereby ensuring the optimal functioning of the market. Building on this premise, typological analysis, according to Durrieu et al. (2005), aims to classify and group together individuals or objects described by a set of characteristics. Typological analysis thus helps us to identify and group together various types of decisions that differ from one another during the pre-contractual phase of public procurement, a process that carries important methodological implications.

Methodology

To conduct this study, we adopted a mixed-methods approach comprising two main phases: (1) An exploratory phase, based on documentary research and participant observation within the ANRMP; and (2) An investigative phase, based on a questionnaire survey. We applied Yin’s (1992) triangulation strategy to strengthen the consistency of our approach by combining documentary analysis, observation, and survey data. The data collected during the exploratory phase were analysed using Sphinx iQ2 and DataVIV, both suitable for processing and analysing qualitative data.

The investigative phase, based on a questionnaire administered to a representative sample of key public actors involved in the procurement process, made it possible to confirm or refute the findings from the exploratory phase and to assess the impact of ANRMP decisions on the public procurement process in Côte d’Ivoire. The data entry, processing, and analysis for this phase were carried out using Sphinx iQ2.

References

Delion, A. G. (2007). De l'État tuteur à l'État actionnaire. Revue française d'administration publique, 124(4), 537-572.
Durrieu, F. et Valette-Florence, P. (2005), L’analyse typologique : de l’exploratoire au confirmatoire, Management des ressources humaines, pp.379-403.
Yin, R. K. (1992). The case study method as a tool for doing evaluation. Current sociology, 40(1), 121-137.

Keywords

Regulation, Public Procurement, Violations, Decisions, Bids, Côte d’Ivoire