QUESTION 1

The World Bank’s regulations on procurement are essential in safeguarding the funded
contracts which are usually subject to various threats. Preventing corruption as a threat to the
procurement process is one of the critical components. It is with this regard that, over the past
years, the bank has put in trail, tested and implemented various measures to ensure all
dealings are done in the most open, clear, and fair manner for parties involved. Corruption
itself is wrong and violets business ethics and moral values 1. The Bank funds are supposed to
be utilised for the purpose which they were intended for putting into mind the economy and
efficiency of the country involved as corruption remains an obstacle 2. In this report, two
measures that are used to secure corruption integrity in bank funded contracts will be
identified and evaluated while challenges that affect the efficacy of these measures will be
highlighted. Namibia as a developing nation faces challenges of corruption in its procurement
processes. Although there are procurement regulations in place, the nation still has challenges
in strengthening these, with little experience in managing World Bank funded contracts. In
fact, the country currently was awarded it’s very first-ever bank funded project by the World
Bank in 2023, which is still on-going. The essay will then use this project as a case study.

Competitive bidding and transparency is one of the important measures implemented by the
World Bank in its procurement processes. This measure was formally introduced in the
procurement procedure in 1964 enabling the World Bank staff members to conduct
international competitive bidding (ICB) 3.

1. Public Procurement and Multilateral Developmental Banks. A Historical Overview

of the MDBs and the History of Public Procurement Regulation in the World Bank

2. S Williams-Elegbe,, ‘ The Evolution of the World Bank ’ s Procurement

Framework : Reform and Coherence for the 21st Century ’( 2016 ) 16 ( 1 ) Journal of
Public Procurement 23

3.
It enables any potential supplier, either local or international depending on the type of
contract, to submit their bids for a tender allowing the bank to effectively choose the one
deserving according to cost measures and qualification 4. Using this measure screens
suppliers in a fair manner, washing away risks of corruption that are usually found through
bribery. Another advantage that can be seen over the years is that that the World Bank’s
procurement regulations have evolved to involve modern technologies that assist in from the
planning phases to post-procurement phases, all done online. ICB allows bidders, who can be
individuals or organisations to pass the eligibility criteria (such as the business’s country of
origin), find the online advert which is the procurement opportunity, and to equally place
their international bid 5. The winning bidder in the ICB is offered a letter of ‘no-objection’
which enables them to move on with the project, placing the bank as the one that finances 6.
All this is done in a transparent way where this information on the tender is available
publicly, to discourage fraud and corruption attempts 7.

However, there are a number of challenges that may affect the efficacy of this measure in
Namibia. Such challenges are drawn from the fact that Namibia has little experience in
dealing with the bank’s funded contracts. The country was recently awarded for the funding
of its Renewable Scale-up project aimed at enhancing the nations’ transmission network
reliability and integration of renewable energies to the country’s electricity systems 8. This
multi-million dollar project is being implemented by the country’s sole state-owned energy
supplier called NamPower. While this project possess advantages for both the financer and
the country, it is crucial to mind the lack of capacity in Namibia’s government institutions
that are placed in the procurement side.

4. The World Bank , Guidelines: Procurement of Goods, Works and Non-consulting

services under IBRD Loans and IDA Credits and Grants by World Bank Borrowers,
(Washington DC , The World Bank , January 2011) , para 1.8.

5. Operations Policy and Country Services (OPCS), The World Ban ’ s Procurement
Policies and Procedures: Policy Review Initiating Discussion Paper (Washington
DC ,The World Bank , 29 March 2012), 2 . Available at
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
INTECA/Resources/257896-1335553632562/Initiating-Discussion-Paper-Eng.pdf

6.

7.
 8.

First of all, the implementation of proper procurement regulations still needs time. The
country lacks adequate skills, resources, relevant trainings and mechanisms which may
develop loopholes for corruption 9. Corruption in itself survives in secret especially when it
10
involves the public sector where there are cultural norms of corruption . For instance,
Namibia has a history of public projects that have been subject to corruption and poor quality
delivered projects that cost millions of dollars. Even though the World Bank’s regulations are
strong in nature, their integration with the Namibian procurement regulations might pose a
threat to integrity due to matters of readiness and capacity. In order to assist in this challenge,
it is essential for the bank to offer capacity building and technical assistance for the country’s
regulation bodies in order to collectively shift the attention to curb issues of corruption.

Another measure enforced by the World Bank to curb corruption in its contracts in the
supplier background checks for due diligence. Checking due diligence is critical in that it
helps the bank to know who the supplier is and to disqualify the corrupt suppliers or
contractors. Disqualification was also implemented by the World Bank where traces of
corruption were found in suppliers or contractors 11. This acts as a due diligence form was it
enables the bank to disqualify the party and preventing them from gaining from the bank’s
projects while protecting the integrity of the procurement process 12. Although this measure
of due diligence is effective in nature, in case where a party is disqualified, one must note
what that does to the timeliness of the project, jurisdiction limits and nature of legal systems.

9. E Morlino, ‘International Public Procurement ’in S Cassese(ed), Research

Handbook on

Global Administrative Law (Cheltenham, Edward Elgar Publishing , 2016 ) .

10. Carrington, "Enforcing International Corrupt Practices Law" (2018) 32 M. J. I. L.

129

11. Williams-Elegbe,‘ Beyond UNCITRA: The Challenge of Procurement Reform

Implementation in Africa ’( 2019) 1 Stellenbosch Law Review 209

12. Osinbajo, "Human Rights, Economic Development and the Corruption Factor" in
Zeleza and McConnaughay (eds. ) Human Rights, the Rule of Law and Development
in Africa (2018)
However, this measure can be affected by the fact that Namibia as a developing country has a
challenge such as nepotism, informal networks and relationships. Personal connections from
individuals involved in the procurement process can still grab contracts and go unnoticed
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through these informal networks . The bank would need to assist heavily in aligning
regulations with Namibia’s systems and enforce mechanisms to help with high standards of
integrity for bidders.

Conclusively, the World Bank has put in place various measures to secure corruption
integrity in its bank-funded contracts. Noting that there are various challenges in interfering
with other nation’s rules, laws and regulations, the World Bank’s procurement regulations are
subject to alignment with the country specific regulations. Even though the identified
measures such as open and competitive bidding and applying due diligence are utilised in
combating corruption, however, they are subject to challenges such as informal networks and
relationships, and inadequate skills and capacity in country specific agencies. Moving
forward, it is critical for the World Bank to work hand in hand with Namibia and contracting
bodies in order to establish anti-corruption mechanisms that will ensure the transparency,
integrity and fairness of the entire procurement process.

13. Technical assistance is provided by the EU (through SIGMA, PHARE), the

OECD, the United Nations and the World Bank.