World Bank’s IFC to help SMEs bid, win lucrative road tenders

International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector arm of the World Bank, will spend Sh130 billion to educate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) on writing winning bids for road construction projects as part of an initiative to spur small business growth.

IFC, which is financing several highway projects in Kenya, said in a statement on Thursday that it will teach companies to bid for contracts and manage their operations in a training that will help small businesses to win large construction tenders.

“The project is expected to enable local road construction sector SMEs to bid and win more contracts in public sector road construction, rehabilitation and maintenance, and improve SME project execution in the road sector,” IFC said.

The training will involve public and private sector players among them the Ministry of Transport and the National Construction Authority.

IFC reckons that working with State agencies will address the circumstance in which 80 per cent of road contractors are licenced to operate in other sub-sectors of the construction industry including buildings, water and sanitation works.

“The project will contribute to improving road construction sector SME performance and competitiveness, increasing their sales revenues, job creation and growth,” the company said.

READ: 9 Tips to successfully bid for any big construction project

Writing bids for big construction projects has been a major challenge for many small and medium-sized builders, many of whom continue to miss out on lucrative contracts due to poorly structured proposals.

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