Assessment of Pharmaceuticals Tender Management: A Case Study at EthiopianrnPharmaceuticals Supply Agency rnDiriba YadesarnAddis Ababa University, 2020 rnrnBackground: rnrnTendering is one of the crucial steps in any type of procurement and requires proper rnhandling so as to ensure efficiency and effectiveness of the procurement. Tenderingrnincreases competitiveness and it is also a mechanism to get the right price to the medicine tornensure access, but bad practices may adversely affect the process. rnObjective:rn rnTo assess pharmaceuticals tender management at Ethiopian Pharmaceuticals SupplyrnAgency (EPSA) was the main objective of this particular study. This assessment included thernprocesses being used in pharmaceuticals tendering, comparing pharmaceuticals tenderrnmanagement process of the agency with the Federal Public Procurement Directive ofrnEthiopia, and identifying major challenges in pharmaceuticals tender management. rnrnMethodology: rnrnThe study was designed as a Case Study, to assess the pharmaceuticals tender management rnat central EPSA. Interviews, document reviews, questionnaire, and observations were usedrnfor data collection at Pharmaceuticals and Medical Supplies Tender ManagementrnDirectorate. A purposive sampling technique was used to gain rich information on thernsubject matter. All ethical issues were addressed without compromise throughout and evenrnafter completion of the study. rnResults:rnEPSA adheres to the Federal Public Procurement Directives of Ethiopia in most cases, yet rnsome deviations were found regarding domestic preferences, thresholds for methods ofrnprocurement, and procurement planning. Manual tendering process, too much bureaucracyrnand uneconomical procurement requests were found to be the major challenges. rnConclusion:rnAlthough EPSA adheres to the Federal Public Procurement Directive of Ethiopia mostly, thernstudy showed that there were certain areas that need to be improved like annualrnprocurement plan preparation. There were also gaps in the awareness of staffs about PublicrnProcurement Directives, availability of trainings to build the capacity of the staffs. Lack ofrnconducive working environment was another area identified by the researcher the Agencyrnshould work on to improve.