Barriers to women's participation in public procurement in Africa: Empirical evidence from Uganda.
Global policy agendas and declarations continue to focus on the participation of women and women-owned businesses (WOBs) in the public and private sectors. The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have compelled countries to adopt affirmative action (AA) strategies to ensure e...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITY STUDIES
2020
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12493/459 |
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| Summary: | Global policy agendas and declarations continue to focus on the participation of
women and women-owned businesses (WOBs) in the public and private sectors.
The United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have
compelled countries to adopt affirmative action (AA) strategies to ensure equal
opportunities for women and men. The World Bank (2005) highlights that women
constitute approximately 70% of Uganda’s labour force, yet most are employed in
the informal sector. Basheka’s (2018b) research on Uganda’s inclusive public
procurement opportunities, barriers, and strategies to female entrepreneurs’
participation in public procurement in Uganda substantiated these findings. In this
regard, Basheka (2018b) highlights that removing gender inequality is key to
economic growth and eradicating poverty. Like many African countries, Uganda
faces several challenges regarding women’s participation in government
procurement. In line with this, this paper focuses on women’s participation in
Uganda’s public procurement system. To help address this issue, the authors
present a framework to support the participation of women and WOBs in
Uganda’s public procurement system. The framework was based on an empirical
analysis of the barriers that women face regarding Uganda’s public procurement
processes. The study collected primary and secondary information using
corresponding data-collection and -analysis techniques. Interviews were
conducted with key informants within Uganda’s central and local government,
and surveys were administered to various WOBs. Capacity, finance, information,
and legal and regulation-related aspects were identified as the four key obstacles
to participating in this potentially lucrative process. It is recommended that the
Ugandan government establish an appropriate legal and regulatory framework
supported by top-level commitment to ensure that WOBs have access to national
and international trading opportunities |
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