This Current Trends in Contract and Procurement Management Course aims to equip officers as well as professionals who wish to acquire recent knowledge, skills, and competencies to be able to fulfil their roles in procurement management. Public sector employees and especially civil servants may often change their role during their career. Few will be in a specialist procurement role for their entire career. However, they may be asked to run or supervise tenders for goods and services costing tens or hundreds of thousands or even Millions of Dollars. They may be asked to do this despite having no specialist training in procurement or finance. This programme has been custom designed for public sector organizations in Africa. The case studies which have been prepared for delegates to work with are based on real-world examples of those working in a public sector environment. A core component of the course is to deliver practical awareness and understanding of the recent initiatives for procurement in Government institutions and establishments in Africa.

Why Choose this Training Course?

This intensive contracts and procurement management training course is designed to assist procurement professionals cope with the increasing complexity of commercial and business relationships as trade becomes ever more international. All business professionals need to understand what a contract does (and does not) require them and the other party to the contract to do, and the consequences for both parties of any failure.

This training course will feature:

The differences in approach between different legal and contracting systems
Risk allocation in contract management and dispute resolution in contractual disputes
Contracting in an international context
Protecting your company’s interests
An understanding of contracting in the English language

What are the Goals?

By the end of this training course, participants will be able to:

Improve their understanding of the role of contracts within a business
Develop more confidence in dealing with contracting issues
Understand how strategies can be developed to improve the commercial outcomes
Apply the latest international thinking in dispute resolution
Increase awareness of the use of contracts in everyday business life

Who is this Training Course for?

This training course will benefit all levels of personnel engaged in contract and procurement management, negotiation, operations, and disputes. This training course is suitable to a wide range of procurement professionals but will greatly benefit:

Contract Administrators, Contract Professionals and Project Coordinators
Specifiers, Buyers, Purchasing Professionals and Procurement Officers
Contracts managers
Project managers
Engineers or contracts operatives

Topics covered on this course will include

What are Contracts and how are they Created?

The need for contractual relationships
What is needed to create a valid contract? Ingredients and formalities
Authority and agency
The tender process
Alternative sourcing
Making contracts enforceable – with particular emphasis on the international context
Strategic Procurement in the Context of World Bank Financed Projects
Introduction to Strategic procurement in the World Bank context
Introduction to the five steps to complete a procurement strategy
Initial data requirements
Analyzing the operating context for the project
Incorporating lessons learned from previous projects
Options generation for the procurement arrangements
Selecting the best approach to market
Completing the Procurement Strategy and Procurement Plan
Case study example

The Structure of Contracts

Form of Agreement
Hierarchy of Terms and Conditions
Different contractual structures
Traditional and new
Notices and other formalities

Collateral Documents

Securitising performance obligations
Bonds and guarantees
Parent company guarantees
Letters of intent, comfort or awareness
Insurance policies
Assessing the need for financial security

Change and Variation

Changes to Contract documents
Assignment/Novation explained and distinguished
Variation clauses and changes to the scope of work
Claims – what they are, and how they arise
Delay and disruption
Force majeure

Resolving Disputes

Conflict avoidance and tiered dispute resolution clauses
Negotiation
Litigation
Arbitration
Mediation and new best practices in dispute resolution and management
Final questions and review of course