Bridging the shortage of specialized project staff in Angola through partnerships

We believe our mission at the World Bank is only sustainable if local institutions are our partners, and if they are strengthened with our sharing of best practices and technical expertise. The procurement internship program in Angola is an example of such a partnership built between the World Bank and Angola’s Ministry of Finance, the Public Procurement Authority (SNCP), and the National School of Public Administration ENAPP—to build the country’s public service capacity, using national institutions.

Shortages of qualified local labor impede the successful and timely implementation of development projects in many countries. This reality is no different in Angola where the World Bank faces challenges in project implementation due to the scarcity of qualified procurement professionals to meet growing portfolio demand. Over the years, Bank projects have struggled to recruit locally and have resorted to hiring international consultants.

To address this shortage, the World Bank is helping Angola produce the specialists it needs to implement critical aspects of development projects, at present and in the future. It has developed a procurement internship program for World Bank-supported projects in the country. The two-year internships are aimed at young graduates from Angolan universities and include practical and theoretical components of procurement, developed by the World Bank, SNCP, and ENAPP.

Interns will follow on-the-job training—mentored by a World Bank Procurement Specialist—and will also undergo mandatory training in Angolan public procurement law delivered by the ENAP (under SNCP supervision). Through these, young professionals should be able to acquire both sound knowledge and practical experience in Bank procurement procedures and Angolan public procurement law.

“I appreciate this opportunity given to young graduates to start a career,” said Albergelina Vumo, a program graduate. “The rigorous and organized process allowed me to see what would be expected of me, if selected: dedication and effort.” In turn, interns will bring to World Bank projects, from their field of academic study, the most up-to-date thinking and research experience relevant to procurement. For the first intake, 22 young Angolans were recruited through a competitive process managed by a human relations firm. They were hired by the Bank and their contracts prepared according to Angolan law.

For Ligia Vunge, General Director from SNCP, “The World Bank, ENAPP, and SNCP partnership on the procurement internship program is enormously important for the public procurement market, allowing the professionalization of procurement professionals, with a relevant added practical component and by including the country's Public Procurement Law in the training program. There is also a great expectation that this program will have an impact on the good management of procurement processes under World Bank-supported projects, and, in turn, we can have significant improvements in the quality of public expenditure.”

Our Procurement Manager for Eastern and Southern Africa Region, Elmas Arisoy, who supported this initiative from the first minute, indicated “I am delighted to see the internship program is now launched. It is a great way to build procurement capacity in the country. The success of this program depends greatly on the efforts of the project implementing agencies and the sector ministries to monitor its implementation. We are looking forward to the success of the program and hoping to replicate it other African countries.”

The internship program was launched in Luanda in December 2023. The enthusiasm seen at the launch—from entities representing government institutions, as well as from the representatives of Project Implementation Units and candidates—conveyed their high expectations for it.

“Angola must work towards enhancing human capital, which ends up being the country's greatest wealth mainly because this human capital is young and has a lot to contribute,” said Irene Figueiredo, Project Coordinator from the Girls Empowerment and Learning for All Project. “For projects financed by the World Bank, strengthening the capacity in procurement is extremely important considering, in my opinion, that it constitutes the heart of the project.”