Nigeria's Tech Procurement Exposed: 57% of Products Sold as New
Nigeria's technology products procurement has been marred by a startling revelation - about 57% of technology products procured by government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) and corporate organisations in Nigeria are refurbished products sold as new.
This shocking statistic was disclosed by Forbes leading tech icon and founder of Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh, at the 66th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
Ekeh's observation is shaped by more than four decades of partnering with global technology OEMs, including HP, IBM, Dell, Cisco, and Microsoft, while building indigenous technology capacity in Nigeria and across Africa.
The practice, which Ekeh described as fraudulent, calls for appropriate sanctions against firms found culpable. He stressed the importance of digital systems in improving procurement, citing e-procurement platforms, government cloud infrastructure, data protection safeguards, and digital audit trails to make transactions more transparent, traceable, and accountable.
Ekeh also emphasized the need for a stronger implementation of the Nigeria First Policy, giving world-class indigenous businesses and locally developed and certified solutions greater consideration while maintaining appropriate standards for quality and global competitiveness.