Nigeria risks falling behind in digital procurement – Experts

Nigeria risks falling behind in digital procurement – Experts

Dr Olumide Olusanya, the Chief Executive Officer of Gloopro, says Nigeria risks falling behind globally if businesses fail to embrace digital procurement transformation and structured supply chain systems.

Olusanya said this at a media briefing organised ahead of the upcoming Digital Procurement Africa Summit on Tuesday in Lagos.

He said procurement had moved beyond routine purchasing and had become critical to corporate governance, operational efficiency, profitability and business competitiveness.

According to him, large enterprises are under increasing pressure to reduce procurement inefficiencies, improve transparency and build systems that provide real-time visibility across supply chains.

“It has become the nerve centre for cost-efficiency, governance and profitability. “Large enterprises lose millions every day to hidden tail-spend, manual processes and fragmented systems that cannot give real-time visibility,” he said.

Olusanya explained that hidden procurement leakages often drain company budgets unnoticed, while manual approval processes waste valuable operational time.

He added that many organisations still make major procurement decisions using outdated and incomplete information because of weak digital systems.

Olusanya said engagements with global procurement ecosystems exposed how far Nigeria and Sub-Saharan Africa still lag behind in digital procurement conversations.

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He recalled participating in the 2025 Procurement Strategies and Innovation Conference in the United Kingdom, where only one African government representative from Lagos State was also present.

According to him, the event brought together major global procurement technology companies including Amazon Business, SAP and Ivalua.

Olusanya said the experience highlighted the absence of similar platforms in Nigeria where procurement leaders, enterprise executives and technology providers could discuss African supply chain realities.

“We searched for such forums locally where these conversations were being held. We could not find any and had to look outside the country,” he said.

He noted that most global Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems such as SAP and Oracle were designed for structured economies with formal supply chains.

According to him, Africa’s largely informal and fragmented supply chain environment creates difficulties for multinational companies trying to deploy such systems effectively.

Olusanya said many firms still struggle to integrate local African suppliers into global procurement systems because of the absence of reliable and standardised procurement data.

He said digital procurement transformation could help formalise parts of Nigeria’s informal economy by connecting smaller suppliers to structured enterprise demand.

According to him, once procurement data becomes structured and traceable, smaller vendors can build transaction histories that improve their access to financing opportunities.

“Data allows suppliers to demonstrate credibility and financial capacity. It creates inclusion by exposing informal businesses to formal demand and financial opportunities,” he said.

Olusanya added that structured procurement systems would also strengthen local content implementation, especially in sectors such as oil and gas.

He further said digital procurement transformation was becoming increasingly important for multinational companies and international oil firms operating in Nigeria.

According to him, many procurement executives in Nigeria are already being assessed using the same performance standards applied in global markets.

Olusanya said some organisations in Nigeria had already begun deploying AI-enabled procurement technologies to improve efficiency and reduce turnaround times.

He disclosed that in some cases, procurement cycles previously taking up to 60 days had been reduced to as little as two days through automation and digital procurement tools.

He, however, cautioned that Artificial Intelligence (AI) could not deliver meaningful results where reliable and structured procurement data was unavailable.

“AI cannot have any impact where the data does not exist. The foundational work of structuring procurement information must happen first before AI can optimise anything,” he said.

Olusanya also argued that Nigeria’s private sector appeared to be lagging behind government institutions in procurement reform efforts.

He cited the Bureau of Public Procurement and procurement reforms within Lagos State as examples of increasing government attention toward transparency and digital procurement processes.

According to him, the private sector should ordinarily be leading innovation in procurement transformation.

Also speaking, Ms Remilekun Ibitoye, Corporate Communications Specialist at PRO ALLY, said the summit was designed to create a platform where procurement executives, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and business leaders could discuss procurement transformation in Africa.

Ibitoye said Africa could no longer afford to remain behind global markets in adopting technology-driven procurement systems.

According to her, the summit will expose procurement leaders to global trends while helping organisations reposition procurement as a strategic business tool rather than merely an operational process.

She added that the forum would encourage collaboration among enterprises seeking practical pathways toward digital transformation in Africa.