The Federal Government of Nigeria is set to implement a National Policy on Affirmative Procurement aimed at increasing access to public contracts for women-owned and women-led businesses. The policy, unveiled by the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP), seeks to utilize public spending as a tool for enterprise development, job creation, and economic inclusion. According to BPP Director-General, Dr. Adebowale Adedokun, the policy is designed to introduce mechanisms that will bring historically underrepresented businesses into Nigeria's public procurement system.
The proposed policy will include mechanisms such as quota allocation, joint bidding, and subcontracting to create pathways for eligible women-owned businesses to participate in government contracting. This initiative marks the first time Nigeria has developed an affirmative procurement framework specifically designed to align public procurement with broader objectives of economic inclusion, enterprise development, and national development. The policy aims to address the structural barriers faced by women-owned businesses, including limited access to finance, inadequate technical capacity, and exclusion from large-scale contracting opportunities.
The BPP identified that these barriers are not necessarily the product of deliberate discrimination but can arise from institutional and structural arrangements that have developed over time. The proposed policy seeks to address these constraints without compromising the fundamental principles governing public procurement. Dr. Adedokun stressed that affirmative procurement should not be interpreted as preferential treatment without regard to competence, but rather as a means to expand opportunities, strengthen supplier diversity, and build the capacity of target businesses to compete effectively within the procurement system.
The policy is critical given the requirement for public procurement to balance inclusion with competition, transparency, accountability, and fiscal responsibility. For women engineers, the proposed framework could potentially open a new route from professional practice into enterprise ownership. The BPP said women engineers should not be confined to roles as employees or professionals within existing organisations but should be positioned to establish and expand engineering firms, consulting practices, construction companies, technology businesses, and other enterprises capable of competing for public contracts.
The policy's proposed mechanisms of quota allocation, joint bidding, and subcontracting are expected to provide different entry points into the procurement market. Joint bidding, for instance, could enable smaller firms that lack the financial or technical capacity to execute large contracts independently to partner with more established companies. Subcontracting could similarly provide smaller women-owned enterprises with access to sections of major infrastructure projects while building their technical and financial capacity for larger contracts.
The BPP said the broader objective was to move women-owned businesses beyond marginal participation in the economy and position them as contractors, consultants, suppliers, innovators, and employers of labour. The Bureau argued that greater diversity among public-sector suppliers could broaden the productive base of the economy, support small and medium enterprises, stimulate innovation, strengthen local value chains, and increase employment. The policy is being introduced against the backdrop of growing demand for investment in energy and infrastructure, areas in which engineering expertise will be central to Nigeria's development.
The BPP DG urged the Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) to complement professional development with greater emphasis on procurement knowledge, enterprise development, strategic partnerships, and the ability of women-owned firms to compete for government contracts. The BPP said it was committed to embedding inclusion within the procurement architecture in a manner that remained legally sound, administratively practical, and economically responsible. The Bureau also called for collaboration with APWEN and other stakeholders to strengthen women's capacity to participate effectively in public procurement.
Key points
- The policy aims to address structural barriers faced by women-owned businesses.
- The proposed mechanisms include quota allocation, joint bidding, and subcontracting.
- The policy seeks to position women-owned businesses as contractors, consultants, suppliers, innovators, and employers of labour.
