NAIROBI, Kenya Jan 7 — The US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has awarded a technical assistance grant to the National Treasury in a bid to strengthen Kenya’s public infrastructure procurement process and increase its transparency and accountability.
The grant, supported under USTDA’s Global Procurement Initiative (GPI), will advance the development of high-quality, sustainable infrastructure.
US Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman signed the grant agreement on Tuesday on behalf of President Joe Biden’s administration at a ceremony in Nairobi.
“Through this grant, USTDA will deliver tangible resources that support smart public investments to develop high-quality infrastructure in Kenya,” said Enoh Ebong, USTDA’s Director.
“Predictable, high-standards criteria position U.S. companies to compete successfully for infrastructure opportunities on the merits of their products.”
USTDA and the National Treasury’s Public Procurement Department have formally partnered under GPI since 2021.
USTDA further said that the grant will fund additional training, an internal best practices manual for procurement officials, and a public procurement guide for vendors and suppliers to explain new criteria to prospective bidders.
“Our continued partnership with USTDA through this technical assistance grant will ensure that procurement officials have the requisite skills on how to integrate life-cycle cost analysis and best value determination in a fair, transparent manner,” said National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Njuguna Ndung’u.
“This will lead to smarter, longer-term investments with overall savings to the Government of Kenya.”
Launched in 2013, USTDA’s GPI assists public officials in its 16 partner countries on how to establish and deploy best practices that assess the lifetime cost and value for money when making infrastructure investments.
