Procurement expertise on a global scale

PWGSC’s Rahul Badami, Kerry Sisk and Alexandre Tremblay provided training to various Nigerian government officers, including architects, engineers, surveyors, managers, directors and other individuals responsible for government purchasing.

PWGSC has been branching out and sharing its experiences and best practices in procurement strategy and training beyond its traditional scope in the federal government.

As the specialist for purchasing in the Canadian government, the Department was recently called upon to share its knowledge when the Government of Nigeria and the United Nations Interagency Procurement Service Office asked for help.

Looking to increase efficiencies and have greater transparency in procurement, the government of Nigeria requested assistance from the Canadian Government through the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

In conjunction with the Canada School of Public Service, CIDA then solicited PWGSC to develop a procurement policy framework specifically for the Government of Nigeria, as well as the on-line tools to support it.

PWGSC sent three representatives from the Professional Development Division to Nigeria to develop the framework and provide the necessary training, using a specially adapted version of their“Introduction to Procurement” training session. Procurement experts Rahul Badami, Kerry Sisk and Alexandre Tremblay were able to take procurement best practices and fine-tune them to the Nigerian experience.

Training was provided to various Nigerian government officials, architects, engineers, surveyors, managers, directors and other individuals responsible for government purchasing.

“Our goal was to improve procurement efficiency and provide procurement officers with the guidance and knowledge to change their future procurement practices,” said Mr. Badami.

PWGSC’s ability to adapt its training and apply procurement techniques specifically to the needs of the Nigerian government helped the session to be a success. “The Nigerian government community was very receptive to the training, heavily participated in class room scenarios and provided an open dialogue by introducing their own personal dilemmas and ethical situations they have encountered,” said Mr. Badami.

“There continues to be ongoing communication with many of the participants of this training course today.”

The training session was also very beneficial to PWGSC. Through the experience, procurement officers have gained tremendous insight into international procurement issues and have also had the opportunity to pass on what they have learned to colleagues.