THE Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Praz) has acknowledged that women and other underrepresented communities are facing challenges in securing business tenders as well as necessary funding.
The regulator said it is committed to rectify the problem.
Women in the construction sector have highlighted numerous obstacles, particularly the lack of financial equity and exclusion from tender opportunities.
Those that often get tenders are referred to as “tenderpreneuers”, people often linked to senior government officials.
Responding to NewsDay Business on the matter, Praz chief executive officer Clever Ruswa acknowledged the challenges faced by women, youth, and disabled communities.
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He said Praz started gathering information that would help them set policies to help these underrepresented communities participate in procurement processes.
“On the same token, in appreciating the challenges that most women, youth, people living with disability, SMEs [small and medium enterprises] and war veterans-owned businesses face, Praz is working on Affirmative Procurement Guidelines,” Ruswa said.
“The authority embarked on a nationwide blitz in 2024, gathering the views of these groups and what they would like to have included in the guidelines.
“In January 2025, once again the authority went back to the same groups to validate the feedback gathered by the consultant who was working on the guidelines.”
He said affirmative procurement was a set of policies and practices that helped underrepresented groups, such as women, minorities and people with disabilities, participate in procurement processes.
“The goal is to create a more equitable playing field and increase access to economic opportunities,” Ruswa added. He also clarified that all tenders were open to everyone on an equal basis through competitive bidding.
“When tenders are published, everyone has an equal opportunity of participating in them through a competitive process. Section 29 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets Act stipulates that there be domestic preference when evaluating bids,” Ruswa said.
“Section 8 of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Assets General Regulations (as amended) stipulates that all construction projects valued at less than US$10 million are exclusively reserved for local contractors.
“Additionally, the regulations mandate that bids submitted by ‘special interest groups’, including women-owned businesses, must be accorded a price preference.”
Efforts to get a comment from the Zimbabwe Building Constructors Association were fruitless as the chief executive officer was engaged in a series of meetings.
Zimbabwe Women in Construction president Elizabeth Chikudunga revealed the challenges that women faced.
“As contractors, we are lacking funding, especially loans from banks. They are very low. We are not getting tenders as Women in Construction. Only men are getting them,” she said.
“If you look, the Women’s Bank is not even supporting us fully. We are facing a lot of challenges that have affected our business, especially women in rural areas who are in construction.
“When we go to banks, they require too much, and these requirements are leaving many women unassisted.”
Chikudunga said bank loans, as an example, required a two-year cash flow, yet most businesses were small.
