EMERGENCY RESPONSES AND PROCUREMENT CORRUPTION IN AFRICA LESSONS FROM THE COVID 19 PANDEMIC

Abstract

The last two decades have been challenging on a global scale. There have been a series of severe health emergencies, and man-made disasters such as the BP Deepwater oil spill in 2010 and the Tlahuelilpan pipeline explosion in 2019, to name a few. There has also been an exponential increase in disastrous climate events such as hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, tropical storms, droughts, and heat waves, and it is expected that these would increase in frequency, scale, and impact. Emergencies whether natural or man made require governments to take swift action to address the consequences of the emergency. This is often done through emergency procurements, which are prone to corruption risks. This paper discusses the corruption risks in emergency procurement and provides an overview of approaches to emergency procurement in South Africa and Nigeria, highlighting the challenges faced in both countries. The paper then examines the anti-corruption interventions required to reduce the risks of corruption during emergencies. It will be seen that addressing corruption in emergencies requires a crisis preparation framework, which includes a contracting strategy which could mitigate wasteful spending. This strategy must include clarity on roles and approvals, inter-agency coordination, reliance on data, coordination with domestic manufacturing for emergency goods, an increased focus on civil society monitoring and oversight from supreme audit institutions.