WHEN the Covid pandemic hit, all of the world needed to urgently buy protective gear, oxygen and ventilators. The countries that moved fastest and made the best spending decisions had electronic procurement systems in place. These systems not only help in crisis, but are also crucial for reducing corruption and saving governments billions of dollars.

How governments spend money is something most of us seldom consider. Yet, this money adds up to a fortune. Governments are by far the largest buyers of works, goods, and services from the private sector. Public procurement amounted to US$11 trillion in 2019. That’s around 12 per cent of global gross domestic product. In the countries where the poorer half of the world’s population lives, procurement makes up an astounding half of all government expenditure.

Electronic procurement or “e-procurement” speeds up this important spending, and speed is crucial in crises like Covid. In South Korea, introducing e-procurement meant the duration of the processing of bids was cut from an average of 30 hours to just two hours, whereas in Argentina the duration of the public procurement process fell by more than 11 days.