By Mercy Adi
Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) and the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) have announced a strategic partnership to stimulate the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
The collaboration, unveiled during a courtesy visit to BPP’s new Director General, Adebowale Adedokun, by NSITF’s Managing Director, Oluwaseun Faleye, aims to promote transparency and inclusivity in public procurement processes.
According to Adedokun, the NSITF plays a crucial role in the BPP’s vision to democratize access to public procurement opportunities for small businesses. He emphasized the need to adjust procurement policies to accommodate SMEs, citing successful models in Kenya, Tanzania, and Rwanda.
NSITF’s Faleye highlighted proactive measures to engage stakeholders in the informal sector and enhance their participation in the economy. The fund is committed to implementing open competitive bidding by 2025 and adjusting processes to ensure SMEs can compete effectively for contracts.
The partnership also includes a joint media campaign to educate Nigerians on the benefits of the Employees’ Compensation Scheme and the transparency procurement initiative of the BPP. Both organizations pledged to support each other in areas such as Information and Communication Technology (ICT) security and manpower training.
This collaboration marks a significant step towards creating a more inclusive and transparent procurement environment in Nigeria, enabling SMEs to contribute more significantly to national economic growth.
“Are there ways to do it through our processes? Are there waivers? These are the things I want to put on the table. We are going to work on this together. I’m going to come up with policies that will drive small and medium scale businesses because it is cumbersome for them to participate with all the guidelines.
“It is happening in Kenya, Tanzania , Rwanda where they streamline the requirements for categories of people – disabled, women etc. to enable them participate with little or minimal mandatory requirements. And if we want to grow this economy , we have to go that way. We cannot ask small business owners to do the same thing as big contractors and multi nationals. We need to streamline the requirements .