KEPSA Foundation, spearheaded by its Executive Director Ms. Gloria Ndekei, on 28^th March 2024 convened an Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) forum. The event served as a platform for bringing together various stakeholders including government bodies such as the National Construction Authority and Kenya Power, Women Entrepreneurs Associations such as the Kenya Association of Women in Tourism, the National Society of Women Entrepreneurs Association, the Kenya Coffee Producers Association, Joyful Women, Kenya National Federation of Jua Kali Associations, Kenya Healthcare Federation, and Kenya Dental Association; Corporates like Bamburi Cement PLC; and SMEs including Jimmy Small, Unique World Destinations, Mara Infinity Safaris, and Kamuju Coffee Farm.

Aligned with the Foundation's Approach of Enhancing Entrepreneurship and Job Creation, under the priority area of Young Men and Women's Economic Empowerment, Leadership, and Childcare, the forum aimed to assess the progress, challenges and persistent gaps in AGPO implementation. Additionally, it aimed to generate strategic recommendations to foster an inclusive environment for women, youth, and persons with disabilities entrepreneurs to access government procurement opportunities. The AGPO program is anchored on the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 Article 227 on the fair, equitable, transparent and cost-effective public procurement of goods and services, Article 55 on affirmative action and, the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015.

During the meeting, several key points were discussed: these included;

1. The importance of capacity building for women, youth, and persons with disabilities entrepreneurs to ensure they meet tender requirements and compliance standards.
2. Proposal for the implementation of an award system to recognize the exemplary performance of women, youth, and persons with disabilities entrepreneurs.
3. Recognition of the low turnout of these disadvantaged groups in procurement training sessions as a challenge faced by procurement entities. A call for a more strategic approach to address this issue and unlock the achievement of the 30% procurement target among these groups through targeted interventions.
4. Emphasis on the significant impact of partnerships, with examples like Bamburi Cement PLC collaborating with organizations such as WeConnect, Strathmore, and Light for the World to enhance the mobilization capacity of women and persons with disabilities.
5. Other challenges raised included apathy due to the bureaucratic system, Lack of access to credit facilities, low levels of awareness, lack of skills and knowledge during tendering, and Cases of misuse of the AGPO certificates as among the impediments for effective AGPO program
6. Advocacy for further sensitization of women, youth, and persons with disabilities on the benefits of leveraging international trade instruments such as the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Additionally, highlighting the partnership between KEPSA and the Corporate Council on Africa in promoting trade and investment opportunities in Kenya.

Finally, Ms. Ndekei shared an ambitious initiative by KEPSA Foundation targeting to support 10,000 vulnerable groups in the AGPO space through supporting 10 associations and 5 products and services along the leather, coffee, Herbs & Medicinal plants, construction and tourism value chains. She called upon both private and public procuring entities to leverage the KEPSA's convening strength through partnerships to transform the narrative surrounding these groups.