E-Tendering and Procurement Performance of the County Government of Nairobi

Abstract

Electronic tendering (e-tendering) has become an integral component of digital procurement systems due to its potential to improve procurement efficiency, transparency, accountability, and overall organizational performance. Despite continued investments in electronic procurement technologies by county governments in Kenya, procurement performance remains below expectations, as evidenced by procurement delays, high transaction costs, limited transparency, procurement disputes, and inefficiencies in supplier selection and contract award processes. Nairobi City County Government continues to experience procurement challenges despite implementing electronic tendering through the Integrated Financial Management Information System (IFMIS). Existing empirical studies have largely concentrated on the general adoption of e-procurement while providing limited evidence on the specific contribution of e-tendering to procurement performance within county governments in Kenya. This study therefore examined the effect of electronic tendering on procurement performance in Nairobi City County Government. The study was anchored on the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and employed a descriptive research design. The target population comprised employees involved in procurement-related functions within Nairobi City County Government. Primary data were collected using structured questionnaires, while Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 was used to generate descriptive and inferential statistics. Diagnostic tests were conducted to confirm compliance with the assumptions of regression analysis before hypothesis testing. Descriptive statistics indicated that respondents generally agreed that electronic tendering had enhanced transparency, improved supplier participation, accelerated procurement processes, and strengthened fairness in tender evaluation and award. Regression analysis further established that electronic tendering had a positive and statistically significant effect on procurement performance (β = [insert standardized beta], p < 0.05), leading to the rejection of the null hypothesis. The findings demonstrate that effective implementation of electronic tendering significantly enhances procurement performance by reducing procurement cycle time, improving transparency, increasing operational efficiency, and promoting value for money. The study concludes that electronic tendering is a critical digital procurement practice for enhancing procurement performance within county governments. The study recommends that Nairobi City County Government should strengthen electronic tendering infrastructure, enhance staff capacity through continuous training, improve system integration, and formulate policies that encourage full compliance with electronic tendering procedures to maximize procurement performance. Keywords: Electronic Tendering, E-Procurement, Procurement Performance, Digital Procurement, Public Procurement, Nairobi City County Government, Kenya