Sustainable public procurement is recognised as an essential part of sustainable development, striving to reconcile and account for public expenditures on goods and services across different contracting authorities to achieve public procurement objectives. While the contribution of the sustainable public procurement sector is receiving growing attention in developed societies, the role of sustainable public procurement is quelled in developing communities. Numerous studies have examined the role of public procurement in promoting sustainable development within local government areas in the Western context. Regardless, there is no empirical study of this nature in developing countries. Therefore, this study explores the multifarious mechanisms through which local government authorities in low-income countries, such as Nigeria, employ their public procurement functions to foster sustainable development that encompasses economic, social, and environmental benefits. Design/methodology/approach: The study reviewed policy documents and practitioner documents on public procurement and sustainability available through the Bureau of Public Procurement, which is the designated commission for public procurement in Nigeria. Adopting a qualitative approach, thirteen local government areas were utilised to explore the challenges and opportunities for addressing sustainability imperatives through public procurement. Using semi-structured interviews, this study conducted 24 interviews with public procurement professionals to gain in-depth knowledge of the extent to which sustainability is incorporated into current public procurement practices and how sustainable public procurement can be utilised as an instrument for sustainable development. Findings: This study confirmed some of the challenges reported in the literature. In addition, the study identified contextual factors, including a lack of autonomy, nepotism, the absence of e-procurement, reluctance to change, and the lack of rule of law, that contribute to the challenges of achieving sustainable public procurement in Nigeria.
Published in | International Journal of Business and Economics Research (Volume 14, Issue 3) |
DOI | 10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14 |
Page(s) | 109-116 |
Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2025. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Sustainability, Public Procurement, Sustainable Development, Local Government Areas
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APA Style
Negedu, J. I., Durowoju, O., Foster, S., Douglas, J. (2025). Sustainable Public Procurement as an Instrument for Sustainable Development: An Exploratory Study of Local Government Areas in Low-Income Countries. International Journal of Business and Economics Research, 14(3), 109-116. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14
ACS Style
Negedu, J. I.; Durowoju, O.; Foster, S.; Douglas, J. Sustainable Public Procurement as an Instrument for Sustainable Development: An Exploratory Study of Local Government Areas in Low-Income Countries. Int. J. Bus. Econ. Res. 2025, 14(3), 109-116. doi: 10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14
@article{10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14, author = {Joshua Ikani Negedu and Olatunde Durowoju and Scott Foster and Jackie Douglas}, title = {Sustainable Public Procurement as an Instrument for Sustainable Development: An Exploratory Study of Local Government Areas in Low-Income Countries }, journal = {International Journal of Business and Economics Research}, volume = {14}, number = {3}, pages = {109-116}, doi = {10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14}, url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14}, eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijber.20251403.14}, abstract = {Sustainable public procurement is recognised as an essential part of sustainable development, striving to reconcile and account for public expenditures on goods and services across different contracting authorities to achieve public procurement objectives. While the contribution of the sustainable public procurement sector is receiving growing attention in developed societies, the role of sustainable public procurement is quelled in developing communities. Numerous studies have examined the role of public procurement in promoting sustainable development within local government areas in the Western context. Regardless, there is no empirical study of this nature in developing countries. Therefore, this study explores the multifarious mechanisms through which local government authorities in low-income countries, such as Nigeria, employ their public procurement functions to foster sustainable development that encompasses economic, social, and environmental benefits. Design/methodology/approach: The study reviewed policy documents and practitioner documents on public procurement and sustainability available through the Bureau of Public Procurement, which is the designated commission for public procurement in Nigeria. Adopting a qualitative approach, thirteen local government areas were utilised to explore the challenges and opportunities for addressing sustainability imperatives through public procurement. Using semi-structured interviews, this study conducted 24 interviews with public procurement professionals to gain in-depth knowledge of the extent to which sustainability is incorporated into current public procurement practices and how sustainable public procurement can be utilised as an instrument for sustainable development. Findings: This study confirmed some of the challenges reported in the literature. In addition, the study identified contextual factors, including a lack of autonomy, nepotism, the absence of e-procurement, reluctance to change, and the lack of rule of law, that contribute to the challenges of achieving sustainable public procurement in Nigeria. }, year = {2025} }
TY - JOUR T1 - Sustainable Public Procurement as an Instrument for Sustainable Development: An Exploratory Study of Local Government Areas in Low-Income Countries AU - Joshua Ikani Negedu AU - Olatunde Durowoju AU - Scott Foster AU - Jackie Douglas Y1 - 2025/06/18 PY - 2025 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14 DO - 10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14 T2 - International Journal of Business and Economics Research JF - International Journal of Business and Economics Research JO - International Journal of Business and Economics Research SP - 109 EP - 116 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2328-756X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijber.20251403.14 AB - Sustainable public procurement is recognised as an essential part of sustainable development, striving to reconcile and account for public expenditures on goods and services across different contracting authorities to achieve public procurement objectives. While the contribution of the sustainable public procurement sector is receiving growing attention in developed societies, the role of sustainable public procurement is quelled in developing communities. Numerous studies have examined the role of public procurement in promoting sustainable development within local government areas in the Western context. Regardless, there is no empirical study of this nature in developing countries. Therefore, this study explores the multifarious mechanisms through which local government authorities in low-income countries, such as Nigeria, employ their public procurement functions to foster sustainable development that encompasses economic, social, and environmental benefits. Design/methodology/approach: The study reviewed policy documents and practitioner documents on public procurement and sustainability available through the Bureau of Public Procurement, which is the designated commission for public procurement in Nigeria. Adopting a qualitative approach, thirteen local government areas were utilised to explore the challenges and opportunities for addressing sustainability imperatives through public procurement. Using semi-structured interviews, this study conducted 24 interviews with public procurement professionals to gain in-depth knowledge of the extent to which sustainability is incorporated into current public procurement practices and how sustainable public procurement can be utilised as an instrument for sustainable development. Findings: This study confirmed some of the challenges reported in the literature. In addition, the study identified contextual factors, including a lack of autonomy, nepotism, the absence of e-procurement, reluctance to change, and the lack of rule of law, that contribute to the challenges of achieving sustainable public procurement in Nigeria. VL - 14 IS - 3 ER -