By Comfort Olayinka
In a bit to foster the growth and development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Nigeria, the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) have announced a strategic partnership.
This collaboration aims to promote transparency and inclusivity in public procurement processes, ultimately empowering SMEs to contribute more significantly to national economic growth.
The partnership was made public during a courtesy visit to BPP’s new Director General, Adebowale Adedokun, by NSITF’s Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye.
Adedokun emphasized the importance of adjusting procurement policies to accommodate SMEs, citing successful models in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda that support participation from diverse business owners, including women and persons with disabilities.
To achieve this goal, the NSITF and BPP have committed to implementing open competitive bidding by 2025, adjusting processes to ensure SMEs can compete effectively for contracts, and developing a tiered contracting system to categorize contracts by size and reserve specific opportunities for small businesses.
The two organizations have also agreed on joint media campaigns to educate Nigerians on the benefits of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme and the transparency procurement initiative of the BPP.
Additionally, they have pledged to support each other in areas such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) security and manpower training.
“We are committed to implementing open competitive bidding by 2025 and are adjusting our processes to ensure SMEs can compete effectively for contracts,” said Faleye. He also noted ongoing efforts to tailor compliance requirements for small businesses and extend social security nets across Nigeria.
“We recognize the importance of the informal sector in the sustainability of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme . The sector holds the key for enhanced contributions, besides giving us more opportunities to extend our social security nets across Nigeria .
“ Within our processes, we are reflecting on how best to reach out and accommodate them the more. Before this meeting, we have already declared that from 2025 , all of our procurement engagements with our stakeholders will be through open competitive bidding so as to broaden the space to accommodate small businesses.”
Faleye further stated that the fund was currently developing a tiered contracting system, which will categorize contracts by size and reserve specific opportunities for small businesses, in order to ensure their active participation. “This inclusive approach will provide opportunities for businesses of all sizes, including large, medium, small enterprises, as well as specialized groups such as women-owned businesses.”
