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The public procurement process involves three phases: acquisition planning and market research; source selection and contract award; and contract administration and close out. By carefully structuring the rules that govern each of these phases, governments seek to achieve various policy objectives. For most procurement systems, those objectives include value for money, integrity, equal treatment and efficiency. These objectives can and should include increased participation by women entrepreneurs in public procurement and in the economy more broadly.
Defining and understanding the target community An important first step to leveraging public procurement in support of women-owned businesses is to define what it means to be a women-owned business and the criteria for participation in preferential programmes. Lack of consistency, clarity and data in this area has frustrated past efforts to promote increased participation by women entrepreneurs. It continues to do so today. The definition of a women-owned business may vary from country to country. However, it is critical that definitions emphasize ownership and control by women to avoid tokenism and illicit practices such as fronting. These definitions and associated criteria are also key to understanding market capacity, establishing a baseline against which to measure progress, targeting technical, financial and other forms of assistance, and determining which businesses are eligible for preferential status. The definitions of and associated criteria for women-owned businesses are also critical to establishing effective certification and registration programmes. While often combined, certification and registration are distinct processes with different objectives. The objective of the certification process is to ensure that businesses meet the eligibility criteria established by the government, while the objective of the registration process is to provide a point of entry for companies wishing to do business with the government. When combined with an effective certification system, a comprehensive, accurate, and up-to-date contractor registration system can serve a number of important functions. This serves as the point of entry for companies wishing to do business with the government and provides invaluable data to government on market capacity and demographics. In some countries, registration systems are also used to prequalify contractors, obtain various certifications and develop approved vendor lists. Proof of registration and certification as a women-owned business alleviates the need for individual procuring entities to determine on a case-by-case basis whether a particular tenderer qualifies to bid and is entitled to preferential treatment.
A checklist for action Certifying and registering women-owned businesses have limited value unless governments also address the challenges that prevent these firms from accessing and fully participating in public procurement markets. Research has identified common challenges in both developing and developed economies. They include lack of information about tender opportunities, overly complex and burdensome tender procedures, unreasonable technical and financial qualification requirements, large contract sizes, insufficient time to assemble tenders, price competition, lack of feedback from procuring agencies, and failure by those agencies to promptly pay women-owned businesses.