Who is buying and which rules apply (Burkina Faso)

Before you read the criteria in a notice, ask one question: where does the money come from, and which rules come with it? The answer decides almost everything: who may respond, the form of the bid security, the language of the bid, the portal to use, and whom to complain to if things go wrong. There are four families of buyer, and a minute is usually enough to recognise yours.

Family 1: national public buyers

These are ministries, local authorities, public institutions and, depending on the country, some state-owned companies. They buy with public budget money, under the country's public procurement code.

How to recognise them. The notice mentions an "autorité contractante" (contracting authority), a "personne responsable des marchés" (procurement officer) or a "maître d'ouvrage" (project owner). It refers to a national budget, a budget year or a procurement code. No foreign funder is named.

What it changes for you. The rules are your country's, and they are public. Administrative documents, thresholds and appeal time limits are in your country rulebook. A committee of the buyer evaluates the bids, and a regulatory body can hear disputes.

ARCOP (Autorité de régulation de la commande publique)
Independent regulator. It sets procurement policy, trains actors, keeps the list of defaulting firms, sanctions firms and public officials at fault, and settles disputes through its dispute settlement body. Created in 2007, it was re-established as an independent administrative authority by the 2024 law.[1][2][9]
ORD (Organe de règlement des différends de l'ARCOP)
Hears bidders' appeals against tender documents and the buyer's decisions. It rules within five working days and also imposes disciplinary sanctions (warning, exclusion, fines).[1][2]
DGCMEF (Direction générale du contrôle des marchés publics et des engagements financiers)
Ministry of Finance body that controls each buyer's procedures (prior opinions, contract visas, authorisation of exceptional procedures). It publishes the Quotidien des Marchés Publics and the procurement plans. Its decentralised offices follow ministries, regions and public bodies.[2][4]
Personne responsable de la commande publique (PRCP)
The buyer's representative for the whole award: annual plan, preparing the tender documents, publishing the notice, invitation letters, chairing the award commission. This is the person to send clarification requests to.[2]
Commission d'attribution des marchés (CAM) et sous-commission technique
The CAM opens bids in a public session and proposes the winner. A technical sub-commission of at least three members analyses the bids and writes the report. For small procedures (formal price quotation, consultation of consultants), a smaller committee replaces the CAM.[2][8]
Autorité d'approbation (ordonnateur du budget)
Approves the contract after the control body's opinion. It may refuse only for a flagrant breach of the rules, insufficient funds, expired bid validity or disappearance of the need, by a reasoned decision within seven days.[2]
Tribunal administratif et Conseil d'État
Courts that hear challenges to ORD decisions. The administrative tribunal rules at first and last instance, then an appeal on points of law lies to the Conseil d'État.[1]
Ministère des Infrastructures (agréments techniques du BTP)
According to the press, a 2024 reform created five approval classes for works (TH, TR1, TR2, TR3 and EC for studies and supervision) with an online application. The issuing authority is not named expressly in the article read.[12]
e-Dimaakia
Government application through which administrations buy State air tickets by putting travel agencies in competition. It matters mainly to travel agencies, since the decree excludes these purchases from its scope (art. 226).[6][2]
SECOP (Système électronique de délivrance des pièces administratives de la commande publique)
Official Ministry of Finance portal for electronic issuance of the administrative documents used in public procurement. The detail of which documents it issues could not be read.[5][4]

Family 2: projects paid for by a development funder

A development bank or donor funds a project, and a local unit buys for it: a project management unit, a coordination cell, sometimes a ministry. The buyer is local, but the rules are generally the funder's.

How to recognise them. Look for the words "financement", "prêt", "crédit" or "don" (funding, loan, credit, grant) followed by the name of an institution. One sentence comes up often: the government has received a loan or credit from such a bank and intends to apply part of it to payments under this contract. The project's name also appears in the notice.

What it changes for you. The file follows the funder's template, and its vocabulary can be surprising. Eligibility conditions may differ from the national code, and the funder often keeps its own list of debarred firms. Expect clauses on fraud and corruption that let it inspect your accounts too. Each organisation's page sets out its rules:

Family 3: United Nations agencies and other international bodies

United Nations agencies, regional organisations and other international bodies buy for themselves, with their own rules and their own systems. They are not bound by the procurement code of the country they work in.

How to recognise them. The buyer is named directly, with no ministry or project unit. The document is often called an RFQ, ITB or RFP. Submission goes through a supplier portal or a dedicated e-mail address, and registering in advance is common.

What it changes for you. There are fewer national administrative documents, but formal requirements are strict. Time limits are sometimes short, and the deadline may be given in another time zone. The national regulator normally has no hold over these purchases: a complaint goes through the body's own channels. Start with the United Nations page.

Family 4: private companies and NGOs

A mining company, a bank, a telecoms operator or an NGO buys according to its own policy. No public procurement code normally applies.

How to recognise them. The buyer is a company or an association. The notice speaks of a "consultation", a "demande de prix" (request for prices) or a call for applications, and often points to an e-mail address.

What it changes for you. There are fewer formalities, but fewer safeguards too. The buyer can negotiate, change its mind or never reply, and there is generally no public session and no appeal period. So the contract you sign is your main protection, and an NGO spending a funder's money must sometimes follow a procedure that funder imposes. See Companies and NGOs.

The four families side by side

	National public	Funder-financed project	UN and international bodies	Companies and NGOs
Who decides	The committee and contracting authority, with the national reviews provided for	The project unit, often with the funder's agreement	The body itself	The company or NGO
Which rules	The national code	The funder's, with national law for what the file leaves to it	The body's own	Internal purchasing policy, sometimes a funder's
Where to complain	The buyer, then the national appeals body, then the courts	The buyer, then the channels named in the file and by the funder	The body's channels, to check in its document	The buyer, then commercial law if a contract exists
Where the bid goes	To the buyer's address in the file, or the national portal if there is one	To the project unit, or the funder's portal	To the body's portal or address	To the address given in the consultation

The one-minute test

Read who signs the notice
A ministry or a town council? A project unit? An international agency? A company?
Look for the source of funding
It is often in the first lines. A funder's name puts you in family 2, even if a ministry signs the notice.
If the notice is silent, open the file
The instructions to bidders state the rules that apply. If you still have doubts, ask the buyer in writing.
Go and read the right page
Your country rulebook for family 1, the organisation's page for families 2, 3 and 4.

Where notices appear in your country

Channels depend partly on the family of buyer: national notices have their official outlets, while funders and international agencies also publish on their own sites. Where you read a notice does not change its rules.

Quotidien des Marchés Publics (« Revue des marchés publics »)
PDF bulletin from the DGCMEF, published every working day. It is the legal channel: tender, price-request and expression-of-interest notices, provisional results and postponement notices all appear there. The submission period runs from the first appearance in the revue, and an unpublished notice makes the procedure void (art. 62 and 96).
Open to read on the DGCMEF website, no registration seen.
Plans de passation des marchés (site de la DGCMEF)
Every buyer must publish its annual procurement plan and a general notice of its larger contracts by 31 March at the latest. The control body gathers them on its website (art. 60 and 61). This is the best way to prepare bids in advance.
SECOP (pièces administratives)
Portal for electronic issuance of administrative documents for public procurement.
Account creation (« S'inscrire ») on the portal.
e-Dimaakia
Government application for buying State air tickets through competition between travel agencies. The decree excludes these purchases from its scope (art. 226).
Agency account creation.
Bureau de l'autorité contractante (retrait du dossier et dépôt des offres)
The tender file is read or collected at the buyer's office, often against a non-refundable payment at the buyer's cash desk (30,000 to 50,000 F CFA in October 2026 notices). Bids go in a sealed envelope to the address in the notice before the deadline hour. Buyers decline responsibility for items that do not arrive by post.
Possible payment at the buyer's cash desk, sometimes free to read.

What next

Once you know the family, look at the type of procedure, which says who can respond and what to hand in, then read the file.

Who is buying and which rules apply