Kano DMCSA Moves to E-Tendering, Set to Digitise Procurement Exercise

...It convenes stakeholders, consultants to strengthen efficiency, transparency and access to affordable medicines

By Maryam Umar 

The Kano State Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA) has commenced preparations to transition from its conventional manual tendering system to electronic tendering, as part of efforts to modernise procurement operations and strengthen the state’s health commodity supply chain.

The development was announced at a One-Day Procurement Planning Meeting of Relevant Stakeholders with Consultants for the 2027 12th DMCSA Tender, organised by the Agency with support from the UK Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Lafiya Programme in Dutse, Jigawa State.

The meeting brought together relevant stakeholders and consultants to review the existing tendering process and deliberate on the implementation of the new electronic system. A major highlight was a practical demonstration by the ICT Consultant on how to use the proposed e-tendering platform for bid submission, processing, evaluation and documentation.

Declaring the meeting open, the Director General of DMCSA, Pharm. Gali Sule, said the transition to e-tendering was in line with international best practices and would improve efficiency, minimise errors and reduce the time required for procurement and bid evaluation.

“Digitising our procurement processes and operations has enormous advantages, including improving efficiency, minimising errors and saving time. With this new bidding process and evaluation, definitely, we are going to save a lot of time,” he said.

Pharm. Gali Sule noted that the initiative was part of the Agency’s broader efforts to strengthen the pharmaceutical supply chain and sustain improvements in the availability and affordability of drugs across Kano State.

“We are working on this standard project to also add to these achievements so that every resident of Kano State can have access to qualitative and affordable medicines,” he added.

Earlier, the Director of Pharmaceutical Services, Kano State Ministry of Health and Chairman, State Sustainable Health Commodity Supply System Committee (SHCSS-C), Pharm. Kamilu Mudi Salisu, described the meeting as crucial to the success of the forthcoming tender exercise.

He said the 2027 tender would introduce a significant improvement over the manual process used by the Agency since 2012, noting that e-tendering would reduce time, cost and workload, particularly during bid evaluation, while improving documentation and efficiency.

Pharm. Kamilu commended the FCDO Lafiya Programme and other development partners for supporting efforts to strengthen the state’s procurement and health commodity supply systems.

At the end of the meeting, stakeholders agreed on key next steps, including hands-on training for relevant DMCSA staff on e-tendering, sensitisation of health commodity suppliers on the new process, and a tripartite meeting involving the ICT Consultant, Logistics Consultant and DMCSA officials.

The transition to e-tendering marks another step in DMCSA’s efforts to modernise its operations and build a more efficient, transparent and sustainable procurement system for improved access to quality and affordable medicines and medical consumables in Kano State.