Influence of the implementation of access to government procurement opportunities programme on business growth in youth owned enterprises in Murang’a south sub county, Kenya
Abstract
This study sought to establish the influence of the implementation of access to government
procurement opportunities programme on business growth in youth –owned enterprises in
Murang’a south sub county, Kenya. The research objectives therefore were; to establish how
provision of information on government procurement opportunities influences business
growth in youth -owned enterprises, to what extent trainings in business skills influences
business growth, how competition for government procurement opportunities influences
business growth and to what extent provision of credit facilities influences business growth in
youth -owned enterprises. The study employed descriptive survey design and a sample of 83
youth owned enterprises in Murang’a south sub –county were selected from the target
population of 488 youth owned enterprises to carry out the study. The study used primary
data which were collected through the use of a five point likert scale questionnaire and
secondary data through review of available literature. Reliability and validity of the research
instrument were tested using split-half reliability test and through triangulation respectively.
The researcher also used Statistical Package for Social Sciences to generate the descriptive
statistics and also to generate inferential results. The descriptive statistics used included
frequencies, averages and percentages while for inferential statistics, correlation analysis was
used to demonstrate the relationships between variables and thus the extent to which
implementation of access to government procurement opportunities programme influences
business growth in youth –owned enterprises. The analysed data was tabulated for
presentation. The findings on provision of information on government procurement
opportunities indicated that the respondents were aware of the programme and government
entities had provided the necessary information. The respondents also pointed out that
although they have received training on business skills, training manuals and syllabus was
lacking, they also felt that more training was needed in order to enhance their skills in their
businesses. In terms of competition for government procurement opportunities, the
respondents indicated that government entities were promoting competition through splitting
up their purchases thus allowing youth owned enterprises to participate. On provision of
credit facilities, respondents pointed out that there were financial institutions in the sub
county financing youth LPOs and LSOs. The respondents also indicated that regarding
business growth, youth owned enterprises have not realised growth in the short run but such a
growth may be realised in the long run period. The study recommends that brochures and
booklets on access to government procurement opportunities should be provided by PPOA to
the target group to enhance provision of information on the programme. PPOA should also
enhance its monitoring of the programme to ensure that government entities set aside 30% of
their contracts to youth, women and PWDs. It also recommends that the business skills
training manual and syllabus should be provided to the trainees before registration for the
training to ensure that the target group register for a training they need. The implementation
of access to government procurement opportunities programme should also be enhanced in
the digital platforms like social media to ensure that more youth owned enterprises are
brought on board. Lastly the regulations put in place concerning the complaints system
structure for special groups such as the youth, women and PWDs should be revised to
enhance adequacy.
Publisher
University of Nairobi