Freetown, Sierra Leone · Established 2026
ProcureSL registers Sierra Leonean businesses so they can lawfully bid for public, donor and private sector contracts — and then physically verifies them, so that buyers can rely on what they are told. Fixed prices, published below. Every supplier we list has been visited, photographed and referenced.
Around 28,400 of them are formal. Less than one per cent are limited companies. Ninety-one per cent are sole proprietorships.
Meanwhile the public procurement system is being digitised. The National Public Procurement Authority has switched on its e-GP portal, supplier registration is live, and procurement planning modules are being rolled out nationally. Public procurement accounts for roughly 17.5% of GDP — on the order of US$1.4 billion a year.
To be invited to any of it, a business needs:
Almost nobody has all seven. Most business owners do not know the list exists.
Under the Sierra Leone Local Content Agency Act 2016, mining, petroleum and other covered operators must declare every contract above US$250,000 each quarter, submit tender packages for Agency review, file an annual Sierra Leonean Content Plan, and submit a performance report within 60 days of the start of every year.
They are required to give first consideration to Sierra Leonean companies — defined as at least 50% citizen-owned. They cannot find enough of them that survive scrutiny.
Operators cannot find compliant local suppliers. Local suppliers cannot become compliant. We stand in the middle and do the work for both.
Sources: Statistics Sierra Leone, 2022 Census of Business Establishments. MAPS assessment of Sierra Leone (procurement ≈17.5% of GDP). NPPA Annual Public Procurement Compliance Assessment Report 2023. Sierra Leone Local Content Agency Act 2016.
We do it. You do not stand in a queue at Syke Street, and you do not find out on the day a tender closes that your NASSIT clearance expired in March.
5 working days · 60% on instruction, 40% on delivery of your certificates · government fees included, against receipts
10 working days · 60% on instruction, 40% on delivery · government fees included, against receipts
| Service | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Tender Alert Subscription | Every Monday: tenders, RFQs, EOIs and supplier registration windows matched to your sector and district. From e-GP, NPPA, UNGM, UN agencies, NGOs and the mining operators. On WhatsApp and email, with closing dates and bid security amounts. | US$12 / month Le 280 |
| Bid Desk | We prepare and submit one tender, RFQ or EOI response for you: compliance matrix, pricing sheet, document pack assembly, submission. You approve before it goes. | from US$120 Le 2,800 |
| Compliance Renewal | Annual tracking and renewal of licence, TIN, tax clearance, NASSIT, SLCA and e-GP status. We file; you are told when it is done. | US$45 / year Le 1,050 |
| UNGM & WFP registration | UNGM Level 2 registration, UNSPSC code selection, WFP Initial Paper Assessment pack, In-Tend registration support. For businesses pursuing UN supply contracts. | US$300 Le 7,000 |
If your business is not ready to win the contract you are chasing, we will say so before you pay us to prepare a bid for it. Registration is not a promise of a contract. It is the removal of the reasons you would be disqualified before your price is ever read.
We are an execution firm. We run the process, file the report, verify the supplier, review the file and deliver the training. Fixed scope, fixed price, named deliverables, dated.
| Service | What we deliver | Price | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Verified Supplier Shortlist | 8 to 12 suppliers matched to your requirement. Each one physically visited and photographed, ownership tested against the 50% citizen-ownership requirement, TIN and tax clearance checked, NASSIT clearance checked, licence checked, two references called and recorded, debarment register searched. Delivered as individual verification reports with tier ratings and a comparison table. | US$1,800 +US$220 per additional supplier | 10 working days |
| Supplier Verification, single | One supplier, one report, PSL-PR-004 procedure. For pre-award checks on a bidder you did not source. | US$240 | 5 working days |
| Cohort Supplier Development | We identify, onboard, register, license and physically verify N local suppliers into a condition where you can award to them and evidence it. Per supplier: full registration pack, verification report, capability file, registry entry, 12 months of tender alerts. Raises your local content percentage with documentation that stands up when the Agency asks. | US$120–180 per supplier | 8–10 weeks per 50 |
| Service | What we deliver | Price | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local Content Compliance Retainer | Drafting and refresh of the Sierra Leonean Content Plan. Preparation of the Quarterly Procurement Report of contracts, sub-contracts and purchase orders above US$250,000, submitted 30 days before quarter start. Tender package submissions for Agency review, including bidder lists with corporate ownership percentages. The annual Sierra Leonean Content Performance Report, filed within the 60-day statutory window. Agency liaison throughout. | US$4,000 setup +US$1,200 / quarter | Setup 20 days, then quarterly |
| Service | What we deliver | Price | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Procurement Monitoring Index (PMI diagnostic) | Five days on site. Three instruments: a 30-item staff survey, a 12-point documentary test on 20 procurement files, a structured management interview. Output is a 0–100 score across six dimensions, a band, a benchmark, a findings register with severity and root cause, a costed 30/90/365-day remediation roadmap, and a half-day management briefing. Full methodology at section 05. | US$4,500 NGO / MDA US$7,500 operator | 5 days on site, report in 5 more |
| Audit Shield | Pre-audit procurement file review before your internal, donor or external audit lands. 20 files, 12 compliance checks each, findings register with severity ratings and named remedial actions, half-day staff briefing, management response template. | US$2,500 | 5 working days |
| Service | What we deliver | Price | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|---|
| Managed Sourcing | Your procurement desk, run by us. Requirement definition, specifications, sourcing, competitive bidding, evaluation, contracting, delivery monitoring, supplier performance management, records to audit standard. | 3% of contract value minimum US$3,000 | per engagement |
| Training Delivery | Three-day practitioner course for up to 25 participants: the Public Procurement Act 2016 as amended and the 2020 Regulations in practice, thresholds and method selection, specification writing, bid evaluation, supplier verification, contract administration and procurement file discipline. Deliverable under a Service Order pursuant to the NPPA–IPAM Memorandum of Understanding. | US$6,000 per cohort or US$95–150 per participant | 3 days + 5 prep |
| Policy and Manual Drafting | Procurement policy, procedure manual, delegation-of-authority matrix, threshold table aligned to the current NPPA circular, contract and purchase order templates, standard operating procedures, records management standard. | US$5,000–15,000 | 20–40 days |
| Document and language services | Translation, interpretation and localisation of tender documents, contracts, specifications, evaluation reports and beneficiary-facing material. Quality review available at certified standard. | on quotation | on quotation |
Mining and extractive operators meeting obligations under the Local Content Agency Act 2016 · ministries, departments, agencies and local councils preparing for NPPA compliance assessment or working toward e-GP utilisation · UN agencies and international NGOs preparing for donor audit or building local supplier pipelines · development finance projects · banks and chambers of commerce running SME formalisation programmes · embassies and diplomatic missions needing local sourcing and vendor vetting
A register of Sierra Leonean suppliers that has been visited, not just filled in. Every record carries a verification date, a tier rating, an expiry diary and a photograph archive.
Counter updated on publication of each verification. We do not inflate it.
Western Area Urban and Rural first, then North West, South and East.
Ten scored checks plus debarment screen and conflict declaration.
Every record expires. Nothing stays "verified" on a form filled in last year.
Registration record searched. TIN status confirmed. NPPA registered supplier directory searched including debarred status. UN and donor debarment lists checked.
The verifier confirms in writing that they and their close relatives hold no interest in the supplier and no employment relationship with a procuring entity.
Premises, signage, equipment, stock, personnel. Eight or more photographs with GPS and timestamp. Ten per cent of files are re-visited unannounced.
Certificates examined in original, not photocopy. Numbers and expiry dates recorded.
Shareholding or proprietorship confirmed against the 50% Sierra Leonean citizen requirement. Any relationship to a procuring entity recorded.
Two references telephoned. Verbatim notes taken, including unfavourable answers. If a reference says the delivery was late, that goes in the report.
Ten checks, three points each. Tier 1 verified and recommended · Tier 2 verified with stated caveats · Tier 3 not recommended for competitive award · below 14 not placed.
The reviewer is never the verifier. No report is released on one signature.
NPPA's published compliance reporting, and the national discussion around it, names over-invoicing, bid rigging, split contracting and phantom vendors as the leakages in the system. A phantom vendor is a company that exists on paper, wins a tender with no equipment and no staff, takes the advance and subcontracts the work for a fraction of the price. The only reliable defence against that is somebody going to the address and looking. That is what we do, and every report we issue says who went, when, and what they saw.
Our diagnostic is built on a published, peer-reviewed instrument rather than on opinion. We would rather show you the method and its limits than hide both behind a logo.
Strongest: close supervision, 4.37. Weakest: supplier evaluation, 3.93.
In that study the highest-scoring dimension was close supervision (4.37) and the lowest was supplier evaluation (3.93). Organisations watch the process carefully and still do not properly assess who they are buying from. That pattern holds almost everywhere we have looked since, and it is the reason a verification firm like ours has work to do.
| # | Dimension | What we test | 2020 baseline |
|---|---|---|---|
| D1 | Close supervision | Named accountability per stage, documented approvals, segregation of duties, written and observed delegation thresholds | 4.37 |
| D2 | Supplier evaluation | Published criteria, recorded scoring, post-award performance measurement, removal of poor performers, conflict-free evaluation committees | 3.93 |
| D3 | Post-qualification | Physical existence, currency of tax and licence documents, verified capacity, debarment screening, beneficial ownership | 4.10 |
| D4 | System revision | Policy and template review cycle, currency of thresholds against the prevailing NPPA circular, reconstructable files, systems rather than memory | 4.20 |
| D5 | Bottleneck identification | Named slowest steps, measured cycle time, assigned mitigation with deadlines, recorded stock-outs and programme delays, payment timelines | 4.34 |
| D6 | Remedial action | Corrective action taken rather than noted, tracked to closure with evidence, audit findings leading to changed practice, staff briefed, functioning reporting route | 4.15 |
Twenty files, stratified by value and method across twelve months. Twelve binary checks per file: requisition before sourcing, method matching threshold, neutral specifications, advertising, minimum bids, committee constitution, evaluation arithmetic, award approval, contract matching bid, independent delivery certification, payment matching terms, file completeness. 240 possible passes.
Thirty items across the six dimensions, five-point scale, anonymous, minimum eight respondents or 20% of the procurement-touching workforce. Reliability computed on every run; if alpha falls below 0.70 we flag the data rather than publish the score.
Ten questions scored 0 to 3 on whether practice is absent, ad hoc, defined but inconsistent, or defined and consistently applied. Includes: what do you measure, when was policy last reviewed, what is your cycle time and how do you know, what did your last audit find and how many findings closed with evidence, and which file would you least like a funder to open.
Bands: 85–100 A, assurance-grade · 70–84 B, managed · 55–69 C, developing · 40–54 D, at risk · 0–39 E, critical. We report the band, because a band creates urgency and a number invites argument. Where staff perception exceeds documentary evidence, we report that divergence as a finding in its own right. It is usually the most useful thing in the report.
A supplier verification in Kambia happens in Krio. A Guinean operator's contract is in French. A beneficiary survey in the south is in Mende. The report that goes to the donor is in English. Meaning survives the trip between those four, or it does not.
Advisory, proposals, reports, training
Donor documents, Guinea and Senegal corridor
National engagement, SME clients, field verification
Cross-border trade documentation
Southern districts, survey translation
Northern districts, community liaison
Regional trade, Islamic finance
Approved vendor and quality reviewer, RWS Group, including Mende-language quality review for Gallup World Poll Sierra Leone. Language work is delivered through a managed network and quality-reviewed before release; the network is named to the client in the deliverable.
| Instrument | Where it applies |
|---|---|
| Public Procurement Act 2016 (as amended 2023) | All public sector work; thresholds and method selection |
| Public Procurement Regulations 2020 | Process compliance, evaluation, records |
| NPPA Public Procurement Manual and current circulars | Operating detail; thresholds re-checked against the prevailing circular before every engagement |
| Sierra Leone Local Content Agency Act 2016 | Quarterly declarations above US$250,000, content plans, the 60-day performance report, the 50% citizen-ownership test, the 5%/5% tender preference |
| Mines and Minerals Development Act 2022, Part XXIV | Priority to Sierra Leonean goods and services |
| National Investment Board Act 2022; Companies Act 2009; Registration of Business Act 2007 | Incorporation, business registration, "Qualified Sierra Leonean" status |
| Data Protection Act 2022 | Personal data in the registry, photographs, references |
| World Bank Procurement Regulations for IPF Borrowers | Where a client's funding requires them |
| AfDB, EU and USAID procurement rules | Where a client's funding requires them |
| UN Common Approach to Procurement; UNGM requirements | UN agency supply and consultancy work |
| ISO 9001:2015 (aligned, not certified) | Our internal management system: document control, competence, verification procedure, nonconformity and corrective action, management review. Quality Manual PSL-QM-001 available on request. |
We are not ISO 9001 certified. We operate a documented management system aligned to the standard and we will hand you the manual, the document register, the verification procedure and the impartiality policy to inspect. We plan certification once twelve months of records exist. We would rather show you the system than buy a certificate.
We take money from both sides of this market. Suppliers pay us to register them. Buyers pay us to verify suppliers. That is a real conflict, and publishing how we manage it is the least we can do.
A declaration of current engagements relevant to any contract will be provided on request, and is included as clause 9 of our standard engagement letter.
You deal with the person who signs the engagement letter. There is no account team and no layer between you and the work.
MBA, St. Paul's University, Kenya · BBAM, Business Administration and Management · ICM Diploma, Institute of Commercial Management, United Kingdom · CIPS Level 4, in progress
Lead author: Talib, S. M., Muhoho, J. & Makali, J. (2020). Procurement practices and supply chain performance at World Food Programme, Nairobi, Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business & Change Management, 7(3), 1051–1061. ISSN 2312-9492 (online), 2414-8970 (print). Indexed on ResearchGate and Semantic Scholar.
Approved vendor and quality reviewer, RWS Group. Mende-language quality review for Gallup World Poll Sierra Leone.
Procurement secretariat and executive support at ambassadorial level. Contract and tender documentation across English and French. Field research and data collection in Sierra Leone and Kenya.
English, French, Krio, Mende, Temne, Mandingo, Arabic
Everything on this page that can be checked, can be checked. The paper is indexed and searchable. The RWS vendor status is verifiable. The company registration, TIN and e-GP supplier record will be published here with their numbers once issued. We would rather be thin and true than impressive and wrong.
Free, one page, and it tells you exactly which of the 41 items your business is missing. No obligation and no follow-up beyond the checklist itself unless you ask.
If you run procurement for an operator, an agency, a ministry or an NGO, ask us for a fifteen-minute procurement health check. We will ask four questions and give you a directional read on where your exposure sits. It costs you nothing and it is not a sales call — if the read is good, we will tell you that too and you will not hear from us again.