KEPSA and Strathmore University Business School (SBS) convened an Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) Policy Dialogue on 17^th May 2023 at SBS. The meeting was attended by Government officials from procuring entities and women-owned business member organisations.

SBS with the support of the International Development Research Centre conducted the research: Enhancing the Effectiveness of Government Procurement Programs in Achieving Women’s Economic Empowerment. The research project sought to examine the interventions (policy and practice) needed to enhance women’s access to and participation in public procurement opportunities toward promoting their economic empowerment in Kenya.

SBS has partnered with KEPSA to facilitate policy dialogue with senior national and county government policymakers in line ministries, women entrepreneur associations, private sector organizations, women industry leaders, supply chain professionals, and women entrepreneurs as part of the dissemination of the research findings.

The research results confirmed that women entrepreneurs who have accessed government procurement opportunities have had a positive impact on all empowerment dimensions i.e economic empowerment, agency, and institutional growth.

Some of the key findings from the study include:

• Molder women entrepreneurs registered for AGPO as compared to the youth.
• More educated women entrepreneurs registered for AGPO as compared to the less educated (i.e., With basic education).
• A higher proportion of those who registered for AGPO owned their business premises as compared to those who were not registered.
• A higher proportion of those who registered for AGPO had other sources of income as compared to those who were not registered.
• A lower proportion of those who registered for AGPO were sole proprietors as compared to those who were not registered.

• More women entrepreneurs who had a family member running a business won an AGPO tender as compared to those that did not have a business member running a business.
• The women-owned businesses that received the AGPO tender had been in operation longer than those that were not awarded a tender.
• The proportion of women entrepreneurs who were actively running their businesses was also significantly higher among those who were not awarded the AGPO tender.
• Women entrepreneurs who won an AGPO tender spent more hours managing their business as compared to those who did not win the tender.

In her keynote address, Mrs Mary Awino – Senior Deputy Director National Treasury confirmed that the Government will be rolling out automation of procurement services through the adoption of the Electronic Government Procurement Systems (e-GP), which will transform the way governments (National and County) purchase goods and services from suppliers. This will result in increased efficiency in the procurement process, faster procurement cycles, and increased transparency and accountability. She reiterated the need to scale ICT-related training for women entrepreneurs to ensure that they are not further marginalized when the e-GP is up and running.  The key takeaways from the dialogue include;

1. The need for policy reforms to the AGPO Act to accommodate emerging best practices such as consortium buying and strengthening access to AGPO-specific alternative financing.  Additionally, there is the need for an amendment to AGPO-specific sanctions to enforce the implementation of 30’% reservations by all procuring entities
2. The need for the adoption of easy-to-use digital platforms for procurement services
3. Capacity building and awareness creation on AGPO should be scaled
4. The Public Procurement Regulatory Authority was challenged to advocate for disability-friendly tender documents to enhance the inclusion of persons with disabilities in procurement opportunities
5. The world is moving towards sustainable and environmentally accepted procurement practices and this needs to be explored further
6. Gender equality and women’s economic empowerment is a cross-cutting goal for all government entities and the need for collaboration and the need to examine the contributions of all MDAs in the implementation of gender-responsive procurement needs to be further explored
7. The need for robust monitoring and evaluation to determine the implementation of AGPO by procuring entities was recommended.

KEPSA and SBS will co-host the first AGPO conference scheduled on June 20^th of 2023, which will target high-level national and county government officials including the legislature, supply chain professionals, private sector organizations, and women entrepreneurs.  The conference will seek to promote buy-in and commitment to the implementation of recommendations both in practice and policy by various private and public sector organizations and a platform for advocating for inclusive supply chain strategies, trends, insights, and technology (e-procurement).