Dr Astrid Thygesen
Procurement & Supply Chain Expert
SENIOR LECTURER
REFORM SPECIALIST
Bio
Astrid is a Public Procurement Adviser with over 24 years of experience supporting governments across Africa and Asia in strengthening procurement systems. Her expertise includes procurement strategy, legal
frameworks, risk management, audits, and capacity building.
Astrid has led major procurement system assessments, including a 2018–2019 research project with CIPS
on healthcare procurement in South Africa, Kenya, and Nigeria. From 2017 to 2024, Astrid was the Procurement Risk Management Lead for the pooled donor support to Nepal’s Ministry of Health, overseeing procurement of medicines, medical equipment, and hospital retrofitting.
Astrid has extensive experience in capacity development. She has led training and institutional support in Ethiopia, Montserrat, Eswatini, Malawi, and Zimbabwe, focusing on training needs assessments,
curriculum development, certification programmes, and Training-of-Trainers (ToT). In Zimbabwe, she led Phase II of the Public Procurement Modernization Project, delivering ToT workshops and advanced procurement training for the Procurement Regulatory Authority Zimbabwe (PRAZ).
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Recently, she served as Lead Technical Mentor for a Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP) programme supporting six African countries in drafting SPP policies and delivering national training programmes.
Astrid holds a PhD in Business & Management, with a focus on organisational buying behaviour and risk mitigation, and an MBA from Copenhagen Business School.