A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the
Degree of Master of Science in Procurement and Supply Chain Management
(MSc PSCM) of Mzumbe University.
This study assessed the factors affecting SMEs participation in public procurement
opportunities in Tanzania. This study identified legal framework, capabilities and
information accessibility as factors that determine Small and Medium Enterprises
participation in public procurement. Specifically, the study evaluated the influence of
legal framework, the effect of SMEs capabilities, and the influence of information
accessibility in the participation of public procurement. The study was guided by
agent theory, resource-based view theory, theory of economic development, place of
small business and organizational life cycle theory. The study adopted descriptive
survey design and the target population was 145 participants in this study. A sample
of 106 participants of this study were drawn through stratified and purposive
sampling. Questionnaire, interview, and documentary review were used to collect
primary and secondary data. Descriptive statistics, factor analysis and regression
analysis were used to analyse quantitative data while content analysis was used to
analyse qualitative data. Based on the findings, legal framework, SMEs capabilities
(finance and procurement skills) and information accessibility significantly affected
the participation of Small and Medium Enterprises in public procurement. The
findings also show that legal framework, capabilities and information accessibility
have significant relationship with SMEs participation. The study concludes that legal
framework, SMEs capabilities and information accessibility affect SMEs
participation in public procurement in Tanzania. The study recommends that SMEs
in Tanzania should invest resources in training its staff, financial institutions should
establish friendly policies that would enable SMEs to lend and access funds easily
and timely. Procurement authorities in Tanzania should enforce accountability and
transparency in procurement procedures.