Accessing Public Contracts in Ghana: The Case of Small and Medium Enterprises

Abstract

Public procurement is seen as an avenue to increase business opportunities by Small and Medium Enterprises but this goal has been hindered due to the challenges in accessing public contracts in Ghana. The study sought to ascertain the depth of knowledge in procurement practices by the owner/managers of SMEs in Ghana and also identify and or examine the challenges faced by SMEs in the public procurement process, so as to know where government interventions would be needed. The study was conducted in the Greater Accra Region. A Focus Group Discussion was organised for the owner/managers of SMEs. This sub-sample were members of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) in Accra. A total of 112 owner/managers were available for the last quarter meeting, 9 groups of 14 members each were organised for the focus group discussions. It was discovered that the content of the tender documents were totally or to a large extent left at the discretion of the one procuring it. This could lead to subjective buying and the buying of inferior items.  It could also be concluded in this study that the Act had fallen short in bringing the needed transparency with respect to the use of public funds by entity officials. There exist numerous allegations of dishonest deals and lack of openness in procurement practices in Ghana. Furthermore, this research revealed that the actions of procurement entities fall short of the provisions of the Act and that the suppliers and contractors (SMEs) were not privy to these decisions.