Arlington, VA – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a technical assistance grant to the National Treasury and Economic Planning of the Government of Kenya (National Treasury) that will help 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. U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman signed the grant agreement on behalf of the U.S. government 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 T. 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. Today’s 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. Collectively, these materials will increase transparency and solidify a level playing field for suppliers of high-quality infrastructure.
“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.”
“I believe this technical assistance will equip Kenyan procurement officials with the best-in-class tools to plan and award tenders, culminating in smarter, longer-term investments for infrastructure projects and overall savings to the Kenyan taxpayer,” said U.S. Ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman.
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.
USTDA’s technical assistance advances the goals of the Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment by equipping public procurement officials to evaluate quality and sustainability when investing in infrastructure.
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The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies. USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.
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