Procurement Plan

A procurement plan is the rolling 18-month schedule that a World Bank implementing agency prepares and keeps updated, listing every planned contract under a project together with its procurement method, estimated value, review type, and expected timeline.

What is a Procurement Plan?

At the start of every World Bank Investment Project Financing engagement, the implementing agency must produce a procurement plan covering all contracts expected in the next 18 months. The plan is uploaded into the World Bank's STEP system (Systematic Tracking of Exchanges in Procurement) and is updated at least every 12 months, or sooner when circumstances change. Each line in the plan identifies a contract package, the goods, works, or services it covers, the procurement method (such as icb or quality and cost-based selection for consulting), the estimated contract value, whether the contract is subject to prior review, and the key milestone dates from advertisement through to award.

The procurement plan is the earliest public signal of what an implementing agency intends to buy. While STEP itself is not fully public, General Procurement Notices drawn from procurement plans are published on the World Bank's public notice portal.

Why the Procurement Plan matters

For suppliers tracking MDB-financed opportunities, the procurement plan is the most powerful forward-looking tool available. A contract that appears in a procurement plan today is likely to reach tender stage within three to twelve months. Monitoring published General Procurement Notices and project documents that reference procurement plans lets a supplier build a pipeline of expected opportunities well before specific notices appear, giving time to assess eligibility, assemble a team or joint venture, and prepare expressions of interest. Knowing the estimated value and method from the plan also allows a firm to decide early whether the contract fits its capacity and strategy.

Example

A USD 200 million World Bank-financed health system project approved for Uganda lists 23 contract packages in its initial procurement plan, including a USD 8 million medical equipment supply contract under international competitive bidding, a USD 3 million consulting assignment for hospital management under quality and cost-based selection, and several smaller national competitive bidding packages for civil works at district hospitals. A medical equipment supplier monitoring the World Bank portal finds the General Procurement Notice drawn from this plan and begins preparing its prequalification documentation six months before the specific tender is published.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are procurement plans publicly available?

The full STEP system is accessible only to bank staff and implementing agencies, but General Procurement Notices derived from procurement plans are published on the World Bank's public procurement notice portal, and project documents often include the full procurement plan as an annex.

How often is a procurement plan updated?

Procurement plans are updated at least every 12 months and whenever a significant change occurs, such as a new contract being added, a method changing, or a timeline shifting materially.

Does every MDB require a procurement plan?

The World Bank requires procurement plans for all Investment Project Financing. Other MDBs have similar requirements under different names, but the World Bank's STEP-based system is the most structured and the most visible to external observers.