Improving Access to Public Procurement for Women-Owned and Women-Led Small and Medium Enterprises in West Africa

Public procurement offers an attractive market for entrepreneurs since governments around the world spend around 12 percent of global GDP on public contracts. Public procurement was estimated to be at least $13 trillion out of the global GDP in 2018.

Access to public procurement represents an important potential market and a significant source of business for SMEs since public contracts can stimulate an increase in investment, job generation and productivity for firms. Women own 30 percent of the small and medium businesses worldwide, yet women-owned businesses only access 1 percent of all procurement contracts suggesting systemic gender disparities within procurement systems.

The size of public procurement represents up to 30 to 40 percent of GDP in the least developed countries. In West Africa, some countries spent up to one-sixth of their GDP on public procurement. At the same time, in the region, women remain underrepresented as entrepreneurs accessing public procurement opportunities.

In this brief, we highlight how gender-responsive public procurement through the inclusion of women-owned enterprises can contribute to an increase in economic growth, greater gender equality, and effective women’s economic empowerment.

Also available in French.