IMPROVING ACCESS TO PUBLIC PROCUREMENT FOR WOMEN-OWNED AND WOMEN-LED SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN WEST AFRICA

Women own 30 per cent of the small and medium businesses worldwide, yet women-owned businesses only access 1 per cent of all procurement contracts suggesting systemic gender disparities within procurement systems. In the context of the West African region, women-owned and women-led small and medium enterprises encounter more structural barriers than their male counterparts- such as limited access to productive resources and assets, limited access to opportunities and information- coupled with gender-specific risks such as discriminatory social norms, unpaid care work and Gender-based violence. The gender gaps in public procurement, entrepreneurship and economic activity, more broadly, must be addressed to harness women’s potential for driving gender equality and achieving sustainable development and growth. Well-designed gender-responsive public procurement policies can promote economic growth, gender equality, and women's empowerment. This policy brief analyses the extent to and ways in which regional institutions in West Africa could adopt better policies for gender-responsive procurement.