Zambia’s public procurement market underwent a major digital shift in 2025, with 103,326 tenders published on the electronic Government Procurement system, more than twice the 45,724 recorded the previous year. The figures provide an unusually clear picture of the scale of government purchasing activity and, potentially, the size of the market available to businesses.

According to the Zambia Public Procurement Authority’s 2025 Annual Report, tenders published through the system were spread across the four quarters, with 29,358 recorded in the first quarter, 27,283 in the second, 23,350 in the third and 23,335 in the fourth. Cumulatively, the e GP platform has now recorded 173,428 tenders since its introduction in 2016.

The dramatic increase, however, needs to be interpreted carefully. Economic expert Enoch Hachibi attributes much of the jump to Government’s move towards mandatory electronic procurement from April 2025. In other words, the numbers do not necessarily mean that Government suddenly began buying twice as much. Rather, procurement activity that had previously taken place through manual processes was increasingly being brought into the digital system and made visible.

That distinction matters for businesses trying to understand the opportunity. A tender appearing on an electronic platform is not the same as a contract being awarded, and an awarded contract is not the same as a successfully delivered project. Hachibi points to this as the more important measure of the system’s effectiveness, particularly in determining whether the procurement process ultimately translates into economic activity.

For SMEs, however, the digitalisation of procurement could remove one of the traditional barriers to participating in the government market: access to information. A smaller supplier can now potentially discover opportunities through the same platform used by larger companies rather than relying entirely on informal networks or physically accessing procurement notices. This could widen competition and give more Zambian businesses a chance to compete for public contracts.

There is also a transparency argument. Bringing procurement opportunities onto a central electronic platform makes them more visible to potential bidders and can increase competition around government contracts. In theory, greater competition should help improve value for money while giving authorities a clearer digital record of procurement activity.

The bigger economic question is what happens after the tender is published. If the e GP system can connect more local suppliers to government demand, increase successful participation by SMEs and ensure contracts are ultimately delivered, it could become more than an administrative technology platform. It could become an important channel for distributing economic opportunity through Zambia’s private sector.

With more than 100,000 tenders now being advertised in a single year, the scale is no longer in doubt. The next chapter will be measured in contracts won, projects delivered, businesses expanded and jobs created. For Zambia’s SMEs, the digital procurement revolution may have opened the door. The challenge now is being competitive enough to walk through it.