The Role of Public Procurement in Enhancing Growth of Small and Medium Sized- Enterprises: Experince from Mbeya Tanzania

Abstract

This empirical study examined the role of public procurement towards the growth of SMEs in Mbeya, Tanzania. The study was guided by three specific objectives: To examine the role of preferential among SMEs in accessing public procurement opportunities, to ascertain the competency of SMEs towards public procurement performance, and to identify the challenges facing SMEs in accessing public procurement. The study adopted descriptive research design and purposive sampling to collect data from 72 SMEs and 37 procuring entities in Mbeya region. The output of the study was achieved through descriptive statistics with the help of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The study revealed that, 43% of the respondents reported having given no of preference at all in public procurement, compared to 4% who argued that are given preference treatment to a great extent. SMEs are competent to enhance public procurement performance to a moderate extent (3.45≤ mean≤3.86). Furthermore, the study revealed that bureaucratic process, lack of fairness in public procurement, insufficient fund, complex legal requirements, lack of policy that support SMEs access public procurement opportunities and corrupt practices in public procurement are the key challenges that hinders SMEs to access public procurement opportunities and their growth. The study recommended on the need to strengthen internal and external legal framework to combat corrupt and nepotism practices, enhance entrepreneurial training and education among SMEs owners, the need to enhance joint bidding among SMEs owners and large firms. It is concluded that public procurement play significant role toward the growth of SMEs by providing market for SMEs' products and services.

Challenges facing procurement and supply professions in Tanzania: higher education students' perceptions

“…The finding implies that low capacity within the private sector to participate in public procurement is another supplier-related challenge affecting the procurement profession in Tanzania. In the existing literature, the contribution of private sector involvement in public procurement has been well articulated (Israel and Kazungu, 2019;Namagembe et al, 2021;Siwandeti et al, 2021), with other studies presenting barriers to private sector involvement in public procurement (Di Mauro et al, 2020;Orser et al, 2021). Based on this study's results, the extent to which the private sector (such as small-and medium-sized businesses) is not capable of participating in public procurement affects the operations of public procurement.…”

“…The finding implies that low capacity within the private sector to participate in public procurement is another supplier-related challenge affecting the procurement profession in Tanzania. In the existing literature, the contribution of private sector involvement in public procurement has been well articulated (Israel and Kazungu, 2019; Namagembe et al. , 2021; Siwandeti et al.…”

Thank you for sharing! Unravelling the perceived usefulness of word of mouth in public procurement for small and medium enterprises

“…Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) participation in public procurement is not a new thing in the literature (Ancarani et al. , 2019; Israel and Kazungu, 2019; Orser et al. , 2021; Saastamoinen et al.…”

Joint Ventures for SMEs Competitiveness and Inclusive Growth: A Comparative Analysis of SMEs in Mbeya, Tanzania

“…13 Israel and Kazungu cited limited access to finance and market information, legal difficulties, inadequate operational resources, political, cultural factors and limited business experiences, corruption and nepotism in the distribution of trade opportunities as the complexities that face SMEs toward JVs undertakings, market access and growth. 14 The substantial factors that influence SMEs toward JVs undertaking should be identified and accounted for. In their studies, Peprah et al accounted for physical assets, legal and economic factors as the key determinants of JVs undertaking.…”