Sierra Leone Procurement Team Looks to Liberia for e-GP Lessons
Sierra Leone is looking to Liberia’s experience with electronic government procurement to strengthen its own public procurement reforms, following a two-day study tour by a 12-member delegation of Sierra Leone’s National Public Procurement Authority (NPPA).
The delegation, headed by NPPA Executive Director Phodie Konneh, visited Liberia August 6–7 to examine how the country has developed, implemented and expanded its Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) System. The visit was held under the theme, “Learning from Liberia’s Electronic Government Procurement (e-GP) System Implementation.”
Liberia’s Public Procurement and Concessions Commission (PPCC) Executive Director, Bodger Scott Johnson, welcomed the team to Liberia and stressed the importance of regional cooperation and peer learning in advancing public procurement reforms.
The study tour gave the Sierra Leonean officials first-hand exposure to Liberia’s e-GP journey, from system development and institutional onboarding to training, stakeholder engagement, ICT infrastructure and user adoption. The delegation also observed live demonstrations of the system and held technical discussions with PPCC officials.
Leading the technical sessions were PPCC Director of Communications Nathan N. Bengu, Director of Training Maude A. Say, Director of ICT T-Herbert Johnson and Project Manager Ezekiel Obazele.
The officials outlined Liberia’s approach to implementing the digital procurement platform and shared lessons from the process, including capacity building, stakeholder coordination and efforts to drive institutional adoption.
Under the guardiancy of PPCC authorities, the Sierra Leonean delegation also visited the Liberia Telecommunications Authority (LTA), where officials received a practical briefing on the institution’s use of the e-GP system. LTA Director of Procurement T. Franniel Powell and her team demonstrated how electronic procurement is incorporated into the authority’s procurement operations.
The session allowed the visiting officials to engage directly with LTA’s procurement team and discuss practical experiences, challenges and lessons from using the system.
At the Liberia Revenue Authority (LRA), the delegation received a similar briefing on the transition to electronic procurement. LRA Procurement Director Lovetta Williams shared the authority’s experience with the e-GP system, highlighting its institutional adoption, benefits and challenges.
The study tour also included meetings with senior Liberian officials, including Minister of State Samuel A. Stevquoah, Minister of Finance and Development Planning Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, and Senator Amara Konneh and members of the Liberian Senate.
Discussions centered on public procurement reform, digital transformation, transparency, accountability, good governance and regional cooperation.
The visit concluded with a dinner in honor of the Sierra Leonean delegation, bringing together officials and stakeholders from both countries for networking and reflection on the two-day engagement.
