Want your business to become a vendor of the government?

Then you must know how governments award contracts in Africa.

In contrast to what most businesses believe, governments in Africa don’t always choose suppliers whom they had previously worked with. Instead, governments prefer a business which could provide them with cost savings and a diminished overhead.

That’s where a lobbying firm comes into play.

Using facts and figures, lobbying firms tell African governments awarding contracts that they could have a huge ROI provided they award the contract to a particular business. Therefore, if it is your lobbying firm that is doing all this, it might be your business that might end up getting the contract.

How Governments Award Contracts In Africa?

To know how lobbying firms influence African governments to award contracts to a particular business, it’s important for us to know how governments award contracts in the first place. The following is a step-by-step approach.

Step 1: Identification of a problem

Consider, for instance, that there is a dilapidated road in your neighborhood. You then tell your local elected official to do something about it, who then realizes that there is a problem which needs to be resolved.

Step 2: Cost analysis

Once the government has identified that there’s a need to be met, it then calculates – using its officials – how much money would it have to pay to solve that problem.

Step 3: Issuing of tender

In this step, government issues a newspaper ad telling relevant businesses about the problem that it is facing – before asking them to bid the amount which they think it would take to resolve the problem.

Step 4: Bidding by businesses and Awarding of the contract

All the businesses which had previously indicated their desire to be contracted by the government bid on the project on the due date. Usually, the business whose bid is the lowest ends up winning the contract.

How a Lobbying Firm Could Get You a Government Contract?

Procurement lobbying is that form of lobbying in where a lobbyist helps his client become a vendor for government’s products and services. Therefore, if you were wondering, it is a procurement lobbyist which could help you in getting a government contract in Africa.

Here’s how he could do that:

By Influencing Governmental leaders

Due to their years of experience working with the key decision makers, procurement lobbyists have contacts which they could rely on.

Provided your business is meeting all conditions which the government wants to see in its next vendor, a procurement lobbyist could tap their contacts to get you the contract.

By Guiding You throughout the Bidding Process

In case you were wondering, it isn’t by bribing governmental officials that procurement lobbyists influence their decisions. Instead, they do the same by providing them with cost-effective and qualified vendors.

Therefore, if you hire such a lobbyist, you’ll see how he might guide you during the bidding process to bid competitively and appropriately. Hence making sure that your business comes across as the best.

By Navigating the Bureaucracy

Ask any person who has experience of dealing with African bureaucracy, and they might tell you how mazy it is. There are layers within layers, so a common man would feel dizzy just by going from one office to the other.

African lobbying firms, on the other hand, have contacts using which you can bypass all these layers to get straight to the point. That means that they help expedite your case.

By helping you make connections

While it might be possible for an individual to live his life without knowing the key decision makers, businesses have no choice but to be in the good books of government officials.

Otherwise, who knows what could happen if they develop a policy which is detrimental to your business interests.

Having a lobbying firm helps avoid such a situation – by helping you make connections with people in the know. So, at the very least, you could be able to communicate the interests of your business to those who matter.

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