Every year, 70 per cent of Ghana's government spending, roughly GH¢150 billion, flows through public procurement.
Yet this massive financial artery operates with alarming inefficiency, haemorrhaging billions through inflated contracts, duplicate payments and outright fraud.
While policymakers debate tax reforms and expenditure cuts, they overlook procurement reform: Ghana's most powerful and underutilised fiscal weapon.
The numbers tell a sobering story. When President Mahama's administration commissioned a special audit of inherited arrears in 2025, investigators uncovered GH₵10.4 billion in fraudulent 15 per cent of submitted invoices.
These weren't accounting errors; they were systematic attempts to defraud the state through falsified documents, duplicate claims and invoices for work never performed. Shockingly, GH¢1 billion had already been approved for payment.
Scandal
The Import Declaration Form scandal reveals an even grimmer picture. Between 2020 and 2025, US$31 billion in forex transfers resulted in no goods entering Ghana.
That's US$31 billion in capital flight disguised as legitimate procurement, money that should have built roads, equipped hospitals and funded schools, but vanished into offshore accounts.
These aren't isolated incidents.
They expose profound weaknesses in Ghana's management of public resources. International research shows that procurement inefficiencies typically cost governments 20-30 per cent of contract values.
For Ghana, with annual procurement spending exceeding GH¢150 billion, this translates to potential annual losses of GH¢30-45 billion, more than the entire capital budget for infrastructure development.
Break
The good news? The 2026 Budget signals a decisive break from business as usual. President Mahama's Reset Agenda explicitly prioritises procurement discipline as a cornerstone of fiscal transformation.
The Budget triples procurement reform funding, from GH¢370 million to GH¢1.25 billion, demonstrating unprecedented political commitment.
Three strategic interventions promise immediate impact. First, stricter enforcement of the Public Procurement Authority's guidelines across all government agencies, backed by quarterly compliance league tables that publicly rank institutions on procurement discipline.
Transparency creates accountability; no agency wants to be named and shamed as the worst performer.
Office
Second, mandatory value-for-money audits for all significant projects and recurring expenditure categories.
The new Value for Money Office will systematically examine whether taxpayers get fair value for every cedi spent.
This isn't punitive oversight, it's prudent stewardship. Countries implementing similar audits typically achieve savings of 15-25 per cent through cost reductions and efficiency gains.
Third, accelerated digital transformation through the Ghana Electronic Procurement System.
Electronic procurement eliminates paperwork, reduces processing time, enhances transparency and creates audit trails that deter fraud.
Chile reduced procurement costs by 20 per cent within three years of full e-procurement adoption. South Korea cut processing time by 60 per cent.
Kenya increased small-business participation by 40 per cent. Ghana can achieve similar results with sustained implementation.
Quick win
Framework contracting for commonly procured items such as vehicles, stationery, medical supplies and ICT equipment offers another quick win.
Instead of thousands of separate tenders across government agencies, framework agreements establish pre-negotiated prices with approved suppliers for standardised goods.
This approach reduces administrative costs, shortens delivery times, leverages bulk purchasing power and minimises opportunities for corruption.
The top 20 high-volume items alone could yield GH₵8–12 billion in annual savings.
Critics might argue that Ghana lacks the capacity for ambitious reforms.
But the 2025 fiscal consolidation, reducing inflation from 23.8 per cent to eight per cent, cutting the deficit from historic highs to 2.8 per cent of GDP, and lowering public debt from 68.9 per cent to 45 per cent, proves Ghana can implement disciplined reforms when leadership commits.
The question isn't whether Ghana can afford procurement reform; it's whether Ghana can afford not to reform.
Every month of delay costs GH₵3-5 billion in preventable losses. Every irregular contract undermines institutional credibility. Every corruption scandal erodes citizen trust.
Procurement reform
Procurement reform isn't a technocratic exercise—it's a development strategy.
When seventy per cent of government spending flows through procurement, optimising this system becomes mission-critical for national transformation.
The 2026 Budget charts the course. Implementation requires coordinated action across government, Parliament, civil society and citizens.
Ghana has sealed monetary leaks through fiscal discipline.
Now we must seal procurement leaks.
The tools exist.
The resources are allocated. Politics will be demonstrated.
What remains is execution—rigorous, sustained and uncompromising.
The choice is clear: continue haemorrhaging billions through inefficient systems, or deploy procurement reform as the fiscal weapon it truly is.
Ghana's economic future may well depend on which path we choose.
The writer is a Surveyor at the Procurement Directorate of the Ministry of Roads and Highways,
E-mail: benorgah@gmail.com
