How to bid for government tenders in Kenya.

Kenya at a glance

The Constitution (Article 227) requires public procurement to be fair, equitable, transparent, competitive and cost-effective; the Act gives that effect. Kenya isn’t a party to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.

e-GP: where it stands

The National Treasury’s e-GP system went live on 1 July 2025. It covers the whole cycle: planning, tendering, evaluation, award, contract and payment. Suppliers register at supplier.tenders.go.ke. Treasury circulars made it mandatory, but in September 2025 the High Court suspended the mandate, so entities must accept both electronic and manual bids. The Act itself allows either (section 77). Most national agencies now use e-GP, while counties lag. Check each tender notice for how to submit.

Procedures and thresholds

Other methods:

• Direct procurement, only on specific conditions;
• requests for proposals for consultancy;
• competitive negotiation;
• electronic reverse auctions, with PPRA approval;
• framework agreements;
• specially permitted procurement.

The figures are from the 2020 Regulations. We haven’t found a later amendment, but check the tender documents. Tenders above the advertising thresholds must be published on the government tenders portal.

Who can bid: the funding-and-size test

The default is non-discrimination: anyone can take part unless the Act or Regulations limit it. The main limits are:

• Citizen-contractor reservation. When a tender is funded entirely by Kenyan public money and is below the threshold, only citizen contractors (firms wholly owned and controlled by Kenyan citizens) may bid. The thresholds:
  • KES 1 billion for works, construction materials and other materials made in Kenya;
  • KES 500 million for goods and services.
• Reserved sectors. Citizen contractors get exclusive preference for some products and services, including:
  • locally assembled vehicles and plant, furniture and textiles;
  • foodstuffs, steel, cement and leather;
  • ICT, and oil and gas;
  • hospitality, air travel and security services.
• County and devolved funds give exclusive preference to citizen contractors from the region unless local capacity isn’t available.
• AGPO. Every entity must reserve at least 30% of its annual procurement for enterprises owned by youth, women or persons with disability.

So the tenders open to foreign companies are mainly international tenders: those above the thresholds, and those funded by development partners.

What a foreign bidder must commit to

• 40% local sourcing (pass/fail). In international tenders, a foreign bidder must source at least 40% of its supplies from Kenyan citizen contractors. That covers goods, works, consulting and non-consulting services, and it’s checked at preliminary evaluation, so a bid that misses it goes no further.
• Local content plan. The winner must:
  • transfer technology and skills;
  • reserve at least 75% of jobs for Kenyan citizens, with 20% of those at management level;
  • source at least 40% of inputs locally. The Treasury can waive parts of this on evidence.
• Works: 30% local participation. Foreign contractors must joint-venture with, or subcontract to, a local contractor for at least 30% of the contract value.
• NCA registration for works. Foreign contractors register with the National Construction Authority after the award letter and before signing. Registration is project-specific.
• Business and tax registration. You can register on e-GP through an authorised person, but registration with the Business Registration Service is required before award. You’ll also need a KRA PIN, and most tender documents ask for a tax compliance certificate.

Joint ventures help. A foreign contractor in a written joint venture or subcontract with a Kenyan-registered, Kenyan-majority firm can benefit from the 10% margin of preference.

Registering and bidding, step by step

1. Check the tender is open to you: is it international, or reserved by funding and size, AGPO or sector?
2. Plan local participation: 40% citizen-contractor sourcing, a local content plan, and for works a 30% local partner.
3. Get a KRA PIN and plan your Business Registration Service registration (a branch or company) before award.
4. Register on e-GP through an authorised person with a notarised power of attorney or board resolution.
5. Find tenders on e-GP, tenders.go.ke, entity websites and national newspapers.
6. Submit your bid electronically on e-GP, or manually if the notice allows, with any tender security required.
7. Evaluation runs preliminary, then technical, then financial, with margins of preference applied.
8. After the award notice, the contract can’t be signed for 14 days. That’s the standstill period, and it must fall within the bid’s validity.
9. Post the performance security before signing. Works contractors get their project-specific NCA registration first.
10. Invoice: the entity must pay within 60 days of a certified invoice.

Securities and payment

• Tender security: optional; stated as a fixed amount of at most 2% of the entity’s estimate. It’s forfeited if you withdraw during validity or refuse to sign. Target groups in reserved tenders sign a declaration instead.
• Performance security: at most 10% of the contract amount, before signing, as a bank guarantee or irrevocable letter of credit. It doesn’t apply to consultancy or low-value contracts. For reserved tenders it can be waived or capped at 1%.
• Payment: within 60 days of a certified invoice. Interest is payable on overdue amounts unless the contract says otherwise.
• Language: international tender documents must be in English, with specifications based on international standards.

How bids are scored, and who gets preference

In international tenders, the Regulations set these margins of preference:

A bidder gets only one preference per procurement: the most favourable one.

Challenging a decision

1. Request for review to the PPARB (Public Procurement Administrative Review Board) within 14 days of notification or of the breach. Filing suspends the procurement, and the Board decides within 21 days.
   • There’s an administrative fee of KES 5,000, plus a filing fee scaled to the tender value (capped at KES 250,000 in the 2020 schedule).
   • In 2026 the High Court reportedly struck down the refundable deposit the Act required with a review. Confirm the current position before filing.
2. Judicial review in the High Court within 14 days of the Board’s decision; otherwise that decision is final. The High Court decides within 45 days.
3. Court of Appeal: within 7 days, decided within 45 days; its decision is final.

You can’t challenge the choice of procurement method, or a contract already lawfully signed.

What changed in 2025–2026

• 1 July 2025: e-GP went live, with supplier registration required.
• September 2025: the High Court suspended the e-GP mandate, so manual and electronic bids are both accepted. Adoption keeps growing, with about 900 agencies by early 2026.
• 2026: the High Court reportedly struck down the review deposit and the security for judicial review.
• Pending: a 2024 amendment bill would reserve all tenders below KES 1 billion for local firms and require foreign firms above that to joint-venture with locals for at least 30%. The President referred it back to Parliament in 2026, so it isn’t law.

Live Kenyan tenders

See also which countries can bid on which government tenders.

Questions

Sources

• Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Act, 2015 (Revised Edition 2022), PPRA
• Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Regulations, 2020 (National Treasury)
• e-GP supplier registration
• Public Procurement Information Portal
• National Construction Authority: foreign contractors

This guide explains the rules in plain English; it isn’t legal advice. Procurement rules change, and each tender document sets its own conditions — it always prevails.