Understanding why women aren’t bidding on contracts
In Kenya, a woman entrepreneur gave up trying to get paid by a local government agency after repeated delays and being told to “give an incentive” for her payment to be processed.
“I was promised to be paid the following week,” she said. “This went on until I got tired and stopped following up.”
Although Kenya’s Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO) program requires 30% of government purchasing agencies to allocate at least 30% of their procurement budget to women, youth and persons with disabilities, research led by Strathmore University Business School in Nairobi found that, as of September 2022, less than 2% of public contracts had gone to women entrepreneurs.
This research highlighted six major barriers for women entrepreneurs: delayed payments, lack of skills, high costs, confusing processes, poor communication and corruption — including bribery, sexual harassment and favouritism. Delayed payments are corrosive for business, making it difficult to fulfil other contracts, repay loans or pay taxes.
According to a survey of nearly 1,600 women entrepreneurs across 25 counties, 80% had not registered for AGPO because they didn’t know about it or found it too complicated and expensive to register.
Advocacy and training have been key to addressing these challenges. Strathmore University Business School held a series of policy dialogues to highlight barriers and foster much needed collaboration with regulators and other stakeholders including business associations and women’s networks. Working closely with the National Treasury, Public Procurement Regulatory Authority and Kenya Revenue Authority, Strathmore co-developed a four-day training program on government procurement and launched an executive incubation program, both for women entrepreneurs, in September 2024.
Building women’s success rate
In Tanzania, a training and networking program for 384 women entrepreneurs — developed with government procurement officials — led to major improvements. After the training, 56% of participants applied for a public sector contract, with 43% of applicants successfully landing a contract compared to just 5.5% before. Success was even higher in the private sector, with 85% of trainees applying, 60% of whom secured contracts.
This progress came from close collaboration between researchers and government, private sector and civil society organizations committed to making procurement more gender responsive. Training was based on feedback from 840 women engaged in small and medium-sized enterprises. Sessions helped businesswomen deal with tax issues, formalize their businesses and register as government contractors. Trainees reported gains in financial and business management skills and ease in navigating the public procurement platform. Four out of five reported changes in their business practices, and those bidding on public contracts could do so in half the time.
In contrast, women also shared information on their experiences with sextortion, sexual harassment and bribery, resulting in training for public officials on integrity and gender-responsive procurement.
Clearer definitions and rules for preferential procurement
The African Freedom of Information Centre (AFIC) led action research on barriers preventing women-led businesses across the five countries from accessing government contracts. It found that many women were unaware of these opportunities, and that governments were not enforcing gender-inclusive procurement rules. One key issue was the lack of a legal definition for women-led businesses and the absence of gender-disaggregated data to track progress.
AFIC worked with governments, civil society and regional bodies to push for high-level reforms. This included engaging with 38 members of parliament (MPs) in Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, and with procurement regulators and other officials. AFIC also encouraged the 14 African members of the Open Government Partnership — which promotes more open, inclusive and accountable governance — to commit to addressing gender-responsive procurement barriers in their National Action Plans.
In Uganda, although a 2021 law amendment reserved a portion of contracts for women and other disadvantaged groups, AFIC found that less than 1% went to women entrepreneurs. With support from researchers, MPs fast-tracked the passage of new guidelines in March 2024 to reserve 15% of public contracts for businesses owned by women, youth and persons with disabilities. Adopted in March 2024, these guidelines define a women-owned business as one that is registered with the relevant government body and at least 51% owned, controlled and operated by one or more women who are Ugandan citizens. The guidelines also require contracts under certain thresholds to be awarded to businesses from the designated groups.
To support these changes, Uganda’s procurement authority formed a gender committee and committed to collecting better data by linking business registration with the procurement system. The Ministry of Finance is building a database of women-led businesses and plans to train both women entrepreneurs and procurement officials to close knowledge gaps.
How a fairer deal for women works for us all
Research in East Africa has raised awareness about how government contracts can help women entrepreneurs grow their businesses. It also revealed gaps in policies and programs that need to be addressed. Empowering women-owned businesses isn’t just about inequality — it helps reduce poverty, improve education and boost health and wellbeing.
Women still face major gaps in employment, income and division of unpaid care work. But the research shows practical steps governments can take to make markets more equal and inclusive, helping women compete for public contracts and contribute to broader development goals.
