Overview and Authority
The Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets (General) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 (No. 5) were promulgated by the Vice President in consultation with the Minister of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion. Issued under section 101 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act, these regulations effectively consolidate and update the fee structures previously established in 2020 and 2021, which are now repealed.
Key Structural Changes
The primary function of this instrument is the repeal of the Fifth Schedule of the 2018 principal regulations and its replacement with a comprehensive new schedule of fees. This update impacts several key areas of the procurement process:
Procuring Entities
Administrative fees for entities to conduct procurement or seek exemptions are now tiered by class (Class A, B, and C), with exemption fees ranging from US$450 to US$1,750.
Bidder Registration
Domestic registration is categorized by business size –
- Micro Enterprises (US$50),
- SMEs (US$60), and
- others (US$75) –
- International bidders face a significantly higher fee of US$850.
Bid Security and Review
The regulations establish complex, tiered administration fees for bid security based on the security amount and the desired validity period (30, 60, or 90 days). Additionally, tenders subject to review now carry fixed administration fees, such as US$200 for domestic construction works.
Contractor Obligations and Miscellaneous Fees
The instrument introduces a heavy emphasis on contract-value-based administration fees for successful contractors. For domestic bids, these fees are generally percentage-based (ranging from 0.50% to 2.00%) but are capped at specific dollar amounts depending on the total contract value. International bids follow a separate scale, with fees reaching up to US$180,000 for contracts exceeding US$700 million.
Furthermore, the regulations formalize costs for administrative tasks that were perhaps less regulated previously, including:
Refund Requests
A handling fee of 5% for domestic and 10% for international bidders is applied to refunds for overpayments.
Information Access
Document search and retrieval now costs between US$60 and US$90 per file.
Conferencing
Fees for presentations and conferencing are established across five levels, ranging from US$200 to US$500.
Legal Significance
By streamlining these fees into a single schedule, the 2026 amendment provides clearer fiscal obligations for both domestic and international participants in the Zimbabwean public procurement market. The distinction between enterprise sizes (Micro vs. SME) suggests a continued regulatory effort to calibrate the cost of entry for smaller domestic players while maintaining a robust fee structure for large-scale international tenders.
By: Kudzai Bushu & Timukudze Marovereke
02/02/26