The Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) has entreated government to create a centralised electronic procurement portal for the transaction of business.

Deputy Chair of CIPS (Ghana), Simon Annan, told Class FM on Wednesday April 4 that such an initiative “will reduce high cost of procurement”.

According to him, if implemented, the system will ensure transparency and accountability. It will also help to streamline fragmented systems of competitive bidding.

On his part, a procurement lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), Frank Mante, impressed on authorities to establish a regulated institution to administer online procurement bidding.

According to him, such a novelty will check corruption.

Contributing to discussions on the private sector, CIPS (Ghana) Chair Stella Addo entreated small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) to adopt electronic procurement to cut down operational costs.

According to her, resorting to electronic procurement regularly will help SMEs to discover industry trends in procurement and supply for the growth of the private and government sectors.