Last reviewed October 2026
What the 30% rule is
Kenya's public procurement law and its regulations require procuring entities to reserve at least 30% of their procurement spend for enterprises owned by youth, women and persons with disabilities. The programme that puts this into practice is Access to Government Procurement Opportunities (AGPO), run by the National Treasury.
Entities meet the rule by advertising some tenders as reserved, so that only firms holding a valid AGPO certificate in the right group may bid. They report how much they have reserved and awarded, and PPRA monitors it. The rule sets a floor, not a promise: it says how much an entity must set aside, not that any given firm will win.
How reserved tenders are marked
A reserved tender says so in its notice and in the tender document, usually in the title or the eligibility clause, with words such as "reserved for youth", "reserved for women", "reserved for persons with disabilities" or "reserved for AGPO". Some reserve for one group only; others are open to any of the three.
Read the instructions to tenderers and the preliminary requirements, not just the title. That is where the entity states which certificate it will accept and any other condition, such as the firm being registered in the county.
Who may bid
- Firms with a valid AGPO certificate in the group the tender is reserved for. A youth certificate does not open a women-reserved tender, and the other way round.
- Where the tender is reserved for all three groups, any valid AGPO certificate qualifies.
- The firm must still meet every other requirement: tax compliance, CR12, business permit, NCA registration for works, and so on. Being AGPO-registered is the entry ticket, not an exemption.
- Joint ventures need care. Check the tender's rules on whether every partner must hold a certificate in the reserved group; a partner outside it can disqualify the bid.
How to find reserved tenders
- Search the Public Procurement Information Portal (tenders.go.ke) and county and ministry websites for notices marked as reserved, or for "AGPO", "youth", "women" and "PWD".
- Watch entities that buy what you supply; their procurement plans often show which items they mean to reserve.
- Follow your county government: counties advertise many smaller reserved tenders for goods and works.
- Set alerts on Tendakazi for your categories and counties, and filter for reserved tenders so they reach you on the day they are posted.
Common mistakes
- Bidding with a certificate for the wrong group, or with no certificate, on a reserved tender.
- Letting the AGPO certificate expire, or attaching an old one after renewing.
- Ownership on the CR12 no longer matching the AGPO certificate after shares or directors changed.
- Treating a reserved tender as easier and skipping the other mandatory documents.
- Fronting: a firm registered to the target group but run and financed by someone outside it. Entities and PPRA treat this as abuse of the programme, and it can lead to debarment.
- Not asking about preferential payment terms or financing; some entities and lenders offer support for AGPO contracts. Check what is on offer rather than assuming.
Keeping your eligibility
Renew the AGPO certificate before it lapses, and update it when ownership or directors change. Keep the CR12, AGPO certificate and tender forms consistent, since evaluators compare them. Check the current rules on the AGPO portal and with PPRA; they are applied strictly and do change.
Read how the AGPO certificate works, who qualifies and how to keep it current, then track it in your vault so reserved tenders stay open to you.
General information for suppliers, not legal, tax or financial advice. Procurement law, regulations, thresholds and government systems change: check the current rules with the procuring entity, the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA), the National Treasury or KRA, and speak to an advocate or tax adviser about your own case.