Ghana – Public Procurement

The Public Procurement Authority (PPA) which was established by the Public Procurement Act, 2003 (Act 663) as amended by Public Procurement (Amendment) Act 2016 (Act 914) regulates public procurement in Ghana. There is also the Public Private Partnership Act 2020, (Act 1039) which governs private partnership agreements between contracting authorities and private parties for the provision of infrastructure and services.
 

Even though Ghana has been a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) since January 1995, it is not a member of the Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). Neither has Ghana entered into any procurement regulatory agreement with the EU. Therefore, the directives of these bodies do not have any direct effect on Ghana’s procurement regime.
 

However, Act 914 includes revisions made to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Procurement of Goods, Construction and Services in the areas of sustainable public procurement, improved procurement processes, circumstances for the exclusion or suspension of suppliers or contracts, and provisions to facilitate the implementation of framework contracting and eprocurement. The UNCITRAL’s key principles of transparency and non-discrimination are also reflected in the Amendment Act 2016 (Act 914).
 

2. What types of public procurement / government contracts are regulated in your jurisdiction and what procurement regimes apply to these types of procurements?
 

The types of procurement contracts regulated in Ghana are the procurement of goods, services and works by ministries and other government agencies, public institutions, e.g universities and hospitals, and stateowned enterprises to the extent that they use public funds.
 

3. Are there specified financial thresholds at which public procurement regulation applies in your jurisdiction?
 

There are no specified financial thresholds at which public procurement regulations apply, according to the PPA Act 2020.
 

The Act applies to all goods, services and works financed in whole or in part from public funds regardless of value and there is no difference in the financial threshold depending on the nature of procurement.
 

The PPA Act, under the Second and Third Schedules, provides different threshold limits above which the procurement process must be carried out by a higher authority and approved by the appropriate entity tender committee. For example, for Goods, Works and Services, the Central Tender Review Committee must approve all contracts above GHS1,000,000.00, GHS 15,000,000.00 and GHS 1,000,000.00 respectively.