Procurement Goes Digital: Treasury's Online System Awards KSh 19B in Contracts in One QuarterProcurement Goes Digital: Treasury's Online System Awards KSh 19B in Contracts in One Quarter
Key Highlights
- Kenya's electronic procurement platform awarded about KSh 19B ($146M) in contracts across 4,950 tenders from July to September, above the whole of 2025/26.
- The 2025/26 year saw about 4,000 contracts worth KSh 18.2B ($140M), while adoption across public bodies stood at 78.8% at the end of July.
- Treasury lists cybersecurity, weak capacity and resistance from manual-system beneficiaries as risks, and the IFMIS link is yet to be deployed.
Kenya's electronic government procurement system awarded contracts worth about KSh 19B ($146M) in the first three months of the 2026/27 financial year, more than the KSh 18.2B ($140M) awarded in all of 2025/26.
The figure shows public buying moving online quickly, and it matters to suppliers because between 700 and 900 tender notices are now open to them every day.
The numbers behind the quarter
Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the platform handled 4,950 contracts in the quarter, against about 4,000 contracts in the whole of the previous financial year. The system became mandatory for government procuring entities from 1 July 2025 and covers supplier registration, tender advertising, bidding, evaluation, contract awards and contract management.
About 50,000 suppliers have registered, and Treasury wants 100,000 by the start of the next financial year. Overall adoption stood at 78.8% on 31 July 2026. Ministries, departments and agencies were at 96.75%, county governments at 100%, state corporations at 94%, and technical and tertiary institutions at 81.9%.
Risks Treasury has named
Mbadi listed cybersecurity, data integrity, system reliability and thin capacity in some public institutions as risks. He said procurement information must be accurate, secure and open only to authorised users. Some counties have faced staffing and technical limits that delayed onboarding of platform staff.
Mbadi also said people who benefited from the old manual system are resisting the change. Some public entities have sought exemptions from procurement rules, especially ahead of the election period, when spending pressure may rise.
Daniel Ndirangu, chief executive of the Institute of Public Finance, said success should be judged by value for money through stronger competition and lower costs. Treasury has signed an agreement with the institute covering capacity building, supplier sensitisation and technical assistance.
Second phase and the IFMIS link
Development and testing of the link to the Integrated Financial Management Information System are complete, and the remaining step is deployment. The link is meant to tie procurement plans to approved budgets, reserve funds before purchasing and connect purchase orders, invoicing and asset management to government financial records.
A second phase is planned to add electronic auctions, e-catalogues, an e-marketplace and performance ratings for suppliers and procuring entities.
As Mwenendo earlier reported, Kenya's IFMIS supplier portal has long combined transparent systems with payment bottlenecks. Mwenendo earlier reported on how KeNHA's rural roads procurement notice sets out the pipeline of work suppliers can bid for. Figures and system details are from the National Treasury briefing.
In Summary
- Who announced the figures?
- Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi and the project team running the electronic procurement system.
- What was awarded?
- About KSh 19B ($146M) in contracts across 4,950 tenders.
- Which period?
- July to September 2026, the first quarter of the 2026/27 financial year.
- Where does it apply?
- National ministries, agencies, state corporations, counties and tertiary institutions.
- Why does it matter?
- One quarter has already exceeded the KSh 18.2B ($140M) awarded in all of 2025/26.
- How will it expand?
- Treasury plans an IFMIS link, e-auctions, e-catalogues and an e-marketplace.