How to bid: Regional institutions (BCEAO, BOAD, BEAC, BDEAC, UEMOA, ECOWAS)

Where to find notices

BCEAO : rubrique « Marchés Publics et Achats »
BCEAO notices, specifications and tender dossiers are free to download on bceao.int. Results are published there too. The bank also issues calls for expressions of interest to renew its supplier directory, for example for a national directorate.
Free to view and download.
BOAD : appels d'offres sur boad.org
The BOAD publishes its procurement guides and standard dossiers on boad.org. For contracts under projects it finances, the project owner publishes the notice.
BEAC : rubrique « Appels d'offres » de beac.int
Page where the BEAC publishes tender notices and results notices as PDFs, for the CEMAC zone. Titles use procedure codes (AON, AOR and so on) that the page does not define.
CEDEAO : rubrique « Procurement » de ecowas.int
Commission tenders are issued by its Procurement Unit and grouped into goods, works, intellectual services, grants and notices. ECOWAS also keeps a vendor roster.

The buying methods

BOAD : appel d'offres ouvert international
For its own purchases: supplies of FCFA 50,000,000 or more, works of FCFA 100,000,000 or more. For a project contract: supplies of FCFA 100,000,000 or more, works of FCFA 200,000,000 or more. Open to all eligible firms.[1][2]
BOAD : appel d'offres ouvert local, national ou sous-régional (UEMOA)
Below the international thresholds. Own purchases: supplies from FCFA 5 to 50 million, works from FCFA 50 to 100 million. Projects: supplies from FCFA 30 to 100 million, works from FCFA 50 to 200 million. Advertising may stay within the country or the UEMOA zone, but any eligible firm can bid.[1][2]
BOAD : procédure restreinte (services et consultants)
For services of FCFA 50,000,000 or more (international shortlist). Between FCFA 5 and 50 million for own purchases, and between FCFA 15 and 50 million for a project: national, regional or sub-regional restricted procedure.[1][2]
BOAD : procédure simplifiée (au moins trois offres valables)
For small amounts: the project owner consults firms it chooses, without a public notice, and three valid offers are enough for works. Supplies FCFA 500,000 to 5 million, services FCFA 1 to 5 million, works FCFA 1 to 50 million for own purchases. For a project: supplies FCFA 5 to 30 million, services FCFA 1 to 15 million, works FCFA 5 to 50 million.[1][2]
BOAD : offre unique
Very small amounts: a single offer or proposal is enough. Own purchases: supplies under FCFA 500,000, services and works up to FCFA 1,000,000. Projects: supplies up to FCFA 5,000,000, services up to FCFA 1,000,000, works under FCFA 5,000,000.[1][2]
BCEAO et BEAC : appel d'offres de la banque
A tender dossier specific to each contract. The BEAC sometimes invites only firms domiciled in one country, as in a 2025 national open tender reserved for Cameroon. No general threshold could be established (see 'To verify').[3][6]
CEDEAO : appel d'offres sur avis spécifique (SPN)
Community institutions publish a general notice, then a specific notice for each major package. Contracts are open to vendors of all countries, subject to eligibility.[8]
CEDEAO : invitation de fournisseurs enregistrés
Registration creates a list of service providers and consultants who can be invited to bid. Registration gives no entitlement.[8]
CEDEAO : contrat direct (Direct Contracting / Direct Selection)
Without competition, in justified and approved cases (sole source, proprietary equipment, specific research work). The price must be reasonable and the package must not be split to avoid competition.[8]

Registering and being eligible

Several of these institutions keep a vendor roster renewed by call. Watch for calls for expressions of interest: they open the door to restricted invitations.

ECOWAS: the Commission publishes at least once a year a notice inviting operators to register on the list of contractors, service providers and consultants, with at least four weeks' notice. Pass/fail criteria include headquarters address, legal status, tax number, social security number, company registration, a declaration of non-debarment and litigation history (Manual 2021, 4.2).[8]
ECOWAS: you do not need to be registered to take part in a tender, but you must be an 'Approved Vendor' to receive a contract. The approval certificate stays valid until 30 June of the year after approval (Manual 2021, 4.2.4 and 4.3).[8]
ECOWAS: ineligible are firms on the UN Security Council sanctions list, on member states' anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism lists, on the ECOWAS list of ineligible firms, or debarred from Community contracts, a member state, a Community-funded project or a multilateral development bank (cross-debarment) (Manual 2021, 4.2.3).[8]
BEAC: in 2020 the bank issued a call for applications to update its supplier directory for 2021 and 2022, open to operators legally established in the CEMAC, by category (works, goods, services, consultants, below or above thresholds in FCFA millions) and by a sealed file and email. Suppliers already under contract were not exempt.[7]
BCEAO: the bank published, for example in December 2022, a call for expressions of interest to renew the directory of its suppliers and service providers for the Benin national directorate for 2023. The file could be downloaded free on bceao.int and applications were by PDF email only. Postal deliveries were not accepted.[4]
BOAD (project contracts): participation is open to legal and natural persons of an eligible State under the financing instrument, to international organisations and, as the case may be, to States in a regional initiative or co-financing. For its own purchases the BOAD also opens participation to member states and shareholder states of its institutions. Goods should in principle originate from an eligible country. The nationality rule does not apply to experts proposed (guides, 2.2.1).[2][1]
BOAD: a candidate suspected of having only a registered office in an eligible country must prove real and continuing links with that country's economy. The bidder declares the origin of goods and may have to supply proof. A false declaration exposes it to exclusion (project guide, 2.2.1).[2]
BCEAO (February 2024 tender dossier): participation is open to eligible firms with the technical and financial qualifications asked. Firms suspended or implicated in illegal activities (money laundering, terrorist financing, corruption, collusive, fraudulent or coercive practices) are excluded. A conflict of interest is declared in the submission letter (I.1).[3]

Finding notices

BCEAO: the specification or tender dossier is downloaded free from bceao.int, 'Marchés Publics et Achats' section. Results are published on the same site.[3][4]
BEAC: tender notices and results notices are published as PDFs on beac.int for the CEMAC zone. A 2025 notice states that the process follows the BEAC's Code des marchés, that the dossier can be consulted free or purchased at head office, and that taking part is conditional on paying a non-refundable FCFA 100,000, based on that notice.[5][6]
On beac.int, the public securities market section says Treasury securities auctions are carried out by 'appel d'offres'. These are not purchases of supplies, works or services.[5]
BOAD: for project contracts, the notice is published, depending on the threshold, internationally (Bank website or dedicated site), regionally (UEMOA states) or nationally (country of headquarters or resident mission). National or regional publicity can replace international when outside bids are unlikely. Any eligible bidder may respond (project guide, 2.9.4).[2]
ECOWAS: for each major package the Commission publishes a general procurement notice and then a specific notice. Its procurements are open to competitors from all countries, subject to being eligible and legally able to do business in the country of performance (Manual 2021, 6.5).[8]
The ECOWAS Council of Ministers' regulation C/REG.11/06/13 of 20-21 June 2013 adopted a Tender Code for Community institutions and approved the Procurement Manual. The 1999 Tender Code previously governed all procurement by its institutions.[9]

Preparing and submitting the bid

BCEAO (February 2024 dossier): no bid security in this dossier. Currency: the CFA franc, but offers in euros are accepted from suppliers established outside the UMOA. Bids are in French. Joint ventures are accepted only in joint-and-several form, with the signed founding act. Subcontracting needs the bank's prior written consent and cannot exceed 30% of contract value (I.2, I.3, I.5, I.6, I.7).[3]
BCEAO: the bank is exempt from all taxes, duties and charges in UMOA states; prices are set excluding taxes and customs duties. The supplier's forwarder completes the exemption formalities with the BCEAO (I.4 and II.10).[3]
BCEAO: the bid has a signed submission letter, a bidder presentation (trade register, registration and tax and social contribution attestation, certified financial statements for the last three years), a technical offer with at least three documented references, and a financial offer (II.6 to II.10).[3]
BEAC (2025 notice, national open tender): reserved for firms domiciled in Cameroon; bank first-demand bid guarantee of a flat FCFA 1,000,000; bids filed before noon on the deadline or rejected; public opening, with representatives duly mandated in writing.[6]
BOAD: deadlines. For restricted works procedures, at least 30 days from publication of the notice. Other deadlines are in each dossier (procurement guide, 5.2.2).[1]
ECOWAS: at registration the firm must declare who owns it. This information is used to assess eligibility in general and entitlement to any bidder preference under article 69 of the Code (Manual 2021, 4.2.3.1).[8]

Evaluation

BCEAO: a Commission des Marchés checks technical compliance, evaluates prices and ranks bids. The contract goes to the most economically advantageous bid. The bank may check eligibility before evaluation, negotiate with the preferred bidder, reject any bid or cancel the tender before award (I.9 and I.11).[3]
BOAD: an evaluation committee evaluates bids. Contracts cannot apply retroactively: any disbursement before the contract is signed is forbidden (guides, 2.8.1 and 2.11).[2][1]

After award

BOAD: for all contracts except framework contracts, the contract can only be signed after a 10 calendar day waiting period starting the day after the notification is sent to bidders. An award notice must always be published, except for a secret contract or the protection of essential interests (guides, standstill clause and publication).[2][1]
BOAD: for services, a consultant who wants to know why its offer was rejected asks for it. The contracting authority answers in writing as soon as possible, and the consultant pays the costs of a debriefing meeting if it asks for one (guides, publication section).[2][1]
BCEAO: results are published on the bank's website. The contract is signed by both parties, and the signature date starts the execution deadlines. Contract disputes go to arbitration under the OHADA CCJA rules, in Dakar, under Senegalese law, in this dossier (I.12 and I.15).[3]
ECOWAS: the standstill is 15 calendar days after the notification of award. An interested party has 7 calendar days to request a debriefing, and the contracting officer gives it within 7 calendar days. No standstill for a single bid in an open process, direct selection, a call-off under a framework agreement or a recognised emergency (Manual 2021, 1.8.5 and 1.8.6).[8]

Complaining

BCEAO (February 2024 dossier): any candidate may file a written informal appeal addressed to the Director General of Administration and Human Resources within 5 working days of publication of results. It can only concern the award. The bank answers within 10 days at most; after that without an answer, the appeal is deemed rejected (I.12).[3]
BOAD (project contracts): a bidder that feels wronged goes directly to the contracting authority, which answers within 15 days of receipt. If unsatisfied, ordinary remedies open under the conditions and deadlines of the law of the contracting authority's country (project guide, 2.4).[2]
BOAD (own purchases): the bidder goes directly to the Bank, which answers within 30 days, then ordinary remedies open under the law of the country where the contract is performed (procurement guide, 2.4).[1]
ECOWAS: complaint deadlines. Against the tender dossier: received at least 21 calendar days before the deadline. Against an exclusion or the award: within 15 calendar days of notification (Manual 2021, 1.8.3). The complaint is made by an interested party and must contain the required information (1.8.1 and 1.8.7).[8]

Traps to know about

'Appel d'offres' also designates the sale of Treasury bills and bonds on a central bank's site. Before opening a BCEAO or BEAC PDF, check that it really is a purchase of supplies, works or services.
Deadlines are very short: 5 working days after results are published for an appeal at the BCEAO (2024 dossier), a 10 calendar day wait before signature at the BOAD, a 15 calendar day standstill and 7 days to ask for explanations at ECOWAS. Watch the site on the expected results date.
A BEAC notice can be reserved for firms from one country, or from the whole zone. Read the domicile condition before buying the dossier: it was paid for in the example read.
On a BOAD project contract, check who the project owner is: the guide's rules apply, but remedies are those of the country's law. Also read the country guide.
At the BCEAO, the bank is tax-exempt: set your prices excluding taxes and customs as asked, and plan for your forwarder's work on the exemption.

What we could not confirm

Rather than guess, we list here what no reliable source allowed us to confirm. On these points, rely on the tender file or ask the body concerned.

BDEAC: we found no text from the bank (procurement regulation, manual, supplier notices). The BDEAC is therefore not covered. Contact its procurement department directly.
UEMOA (Commission): we could not read the regulation setting the procurement rules of the Union's organs, nor its notices. Do not confuse it with directive 04/2005/CM/UEMOA, which harmonises member states' national codes and which we did not read here.
BEAC: the BEAC's Code des marchés itself was not found. The facts come from two scanned notices (2020 and 2025) read through text recognition. BEAC thresholds, standstill and remedies are therefore not established.
BCEAO: no general BCEAO procurement regulation was found. The rules above come from a single February 2024 tender dossier (office equipment supply and installation): another dossier may have different terms. The supplier-directory call read is from December 2022 and is closed.
BOAD: the two guides read are dated September 2020. We did not check whether they have been replaced. The project guide describes the mid-threshold works procedure sometimes as 'sub-regional (UEMOA)', sometimes as 'local': read the notice. The procurement guide also treats publication on the Bank's website as the only international advertising.
ECOWAS: we read the 2021 Manual and the 2013 regulation, but not the Procurement Code itself, nor its threshold and advertising annexes (annexes 1 and 2). The 2021 Manual refers to a 'Procurement Code': a version more recent than 2013 may exist. We therefore give no thresholds.

Sources

Procédures d'achats de la Banque (BOAD 2020), septembre 2020 (Banque ouest-africaine de développement (BOAD), 2020-09)
Guide de procédures de passation de marchés et règles d'attribution des contrats financés par la BOAD, septembre 2020 (Banque ouest-africaine de développement (BOAD), 2020-09)
Dossier d'appel d'offres AO/Z00/DBA/001/2024, Fourniture et installation de divers matériels et mobiliers pour le Siège de la BCEAO (Banque centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO), 2024-02)
Appel à manifestation d'intérêt pour le renouvellement du répertoire des fournisseurs (Direction nationale du Bénin, 2023) (Banque centrale des États de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO), 2022-12-19)
Appels d'offres (liste des avis et résultats, zone CEMAC) (Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC))
Appel d'offres national ouvert n°40/BEAC/SG-DPMG/AONO/Bien/2025, fournitures de bureau pour les Services Centraux à Yaoundé (avis scanné, lu par reconnaissance de texte) (Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC), 2025-04-15)
Appel à manifestation d'intérêt n°1/DGE/DCBCG/2020 pour la mise à jour du répertoire des prestataires de la BEAC (avis scanné, lu par reconnaissance de texte) (Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC), 2020-08)
ECOWAS Procurement Manual 2021 (Commission de la CEDEAO / ECOWAS Commission, 2021)
Regulation C/REG.11/06/13 on the Adoption of the ECOWAS Tender Code and Procurement Manual (Council of Ministers, Abidjan, 20-21 June 2013) (CEDEAO / ECOWAS Council of Ministers, 2013-06)

Bidding to: Regional institutions (BCEAO, BOAD, BEAC, BDEAC, UEMOA, ECOWAS)