Determinants Influencing Youth Entrepreneurs' Participation in Public Procurement in Tanzania

Abstract

This study aimed to assess the determinants of youth entrepreneurs’ participation in public procurement in the Dar es Salaam and Dodoma regions of Tanzania in a bid to ascertain the influence of youth access to procurement information, financial resources, youth confidence, and procurement knowledge on participation in public procurement opportunities. An exploratory research design with a quantitative technique was adopted, whereby a sample of 187 youths was selected through simple random sampling techniques. However, only 153 questionnaires were completed and used for analysis, where both descriptive and inferential analyses were conducted. Descriptive data analysis was employed to get the mean and standard deviation of the findings, whereby the data were summarized using frequency distribution tables, and finally, a multiple regression model was used to analyze the data. The findings show that both variables—procurement information, financial resources, procurement knowledge, and youth confidence—positively influence youth participation in procurement opportunities at p =0.05. The study recommends that the government should have a capacity-building program for the youth to ensure they know public procurement principles and procedures. The procuring entities should use social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and Twitter to advertise the procurement opportunities in order to ensure that youth get the procurement information. Also, the government should continue to provide financial assistance to the youth, and lastly, the youth should have confidence in their participation in the public procurement process by believing that they would win the tenders if they met the required criteria and not otherwise.