The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Authority (PPDA) has oriented its members of staff on the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS).

The orientation was held on Tuesday, 8 September 2026 and was led by E-Procurement Manager Yvonne Kasamba.

OCDS is an international standard for publishing information on public contracts and it is designed to strengthen transparency and accountability in public procurement.

Unlike an e-procurement system, OCDS is a data disclosure standard that sits between procurement systems and the tools that use procurement data.

The orientation was conducted as PPDA prepares for the launch of the  Malawi National Electronic Procurement System (MANePS) Open Contracting Data Portal.

Speaking during the orientation, Acting Director General Timothy Kalembo said the training was timely.

He said it was important for all PPDA employees to understand OCDS and its role in strengthening public procurement transparency.

Kalembo said the Government of Malawi’s transition to electronic government procurement is a major reform that all PPDA employees must embrace.

He urged staff to move with the reform and support efforts to ensure its successful implementation.

E-Procurement Manager Yvonne Kasamba said MANePS generates the procurement data that will be published through the OCDS portal adding that MANePS is the Authority’s major source of open contracting data.

The portal will provide public access to procurement information generated through MANePS.

The information will cover key stages of the procurement cycle.

These include planning, tendering, auctioning, awarding and contract management.

Information on Procuring and Disposing Entities (PDEs), suppliers and beneficial ownership will also be covered.

The publication of the data is expected to enhance public access to procurement information.

It will also enable citizens, civil society organizations and oversight bodies to monitor procurement activities.

The data will provide an auditable trail that can help identify irregularities and potential fraud.

It will also support benchmarking and price comparisons across similar procurements.

Suppliers will be able to use the information to understand procurement patterns and identify opportunities.

The initiative is being implemented under the Malawi Fiscal Governance Program for Results (PforR).