One of the critical barriers to procurement success for women-owned businesses is navigating the complex compliance requirements set by procurement bodies. To address this challenge, the Affirmative Procurement Reform project established the Compliance Incubator, a dedicated service designed to assist women entrepreneurs in meeting these stringent requirements.

Purpose: The Compliance incubator provides tailored support to women entrepreneurs, helping them align their business practices with necessary documentation and regulatory standards.  Achievements :

• The Incubator has supported 600 women-owned businesses, enhancing their readiness and confidence to participate in procurement activities across the 4 implementing countries.
• In Nigeria, Support a cohort of 100 WSMEs in completing and getting all compliance documentation for both public and private sector procurement opportunities. The expectation is that through this compliance incubator, each WOB support will not only participate in at least five public sector procurement processes but also benefit from the tune of NGN 20 million in contracts won.

The voices of women. Before joining the Affirmative training program, Rashidat encountered challenges in supplying food items to various establishments due to the lack of procurement documents. “I had challenges trying to supply food items to establishments because they kept asking for certain documents. I only had my FIRS certificate, VAT clearance, and NSITF. But, joining the program, I was exposed to compliance and the process for getting my documents. I have started the process and will be able to get all the required documents by the first quarter of 2024,” Rashidat Umar O. WSME beneficiary_ Nigeria Kaduna)