When Niger’s authorities unveiled Decree No. 2022-743/PRN/PM on 29 September 2022, the fanfare suggested a turning point for public procurement. By introducing the competitive dialogue procedure, the government promised leaner public spending, greater transparency, and a way to draw the technical expertise needed for major development projects. Three years on, the picture looks very different. Behind the official announcements, the reform has remained little more than a communications exercise, an illusion of modernisation that has delivered no tangible gains for the national economy.
A sophisticated mechanism that never left the paper
On paper, competitive dialogue was an appealing idea: public buyers could sit down with several shortlisted bidders and jointly design the most suitable technical, legal, or financial solutions. In the daily routine of Niger’s public administration, however, that provision has stayed a pipe dream.
- No technical ownership: Without proper training and clear methodological guides for procurement officers, the mechanism is widely seen as too complex and cumbersome to handle.
- A retreat into habit: Contracting authorities keep favouring traditional methods or, more worryingly, overusing derogatory procedures without delivering the added value promised by the 2022 text.
- No flagship project completed: In three years, the large infrastructure contracts meant to benefit from this competitive flexibility have produced no visible spin-offs and no measurable efficiency gains for the public purse.
From the rhetoric of rebuilding to the realities of direct deals
While the language of “rebuilding” and sound management is on everyone’s lips, the persistence of direct award practices and negotiated deals contradicts the intentions set out in the 2022 decree.
Instead of fostering healthy competition and transparency, the revamped legal framework often serves as an administrative shop window to reassure observers, while conditions on the ground remain marked by opacity and a lack of accountability. Local firms, which were supposed to be the first to benefit from a more open dialogue with the state, continue to complain about restricted access to major opportunities and the slow pace of procedures.
The record of a legal framework that does not work
After three years of theoretical application, the scorecard for the 29 September 2022 decree exposes the gap between legislative inflation and operational reality:
- No effect on cost reduction: The financial optimisation expected from stronger competition has not shown up in the public accounts.
- Transparency as an illusion: Audits and evaluation reports on the actual use of competitive dialogue remain almost non-existent.
- A brake on investment: The distance between the texts on the books and their real application keeps serious economic partners in a climate of uncertainty.
Decree No. 2022-743 has amounted to a legal veneer with no knock-on effect. Tested by time, the introduction of competitive dialogue looks more like a communications manoeuvre than a genuine lever for transforming public procurement in Niger.
