Public-Private Partnerships in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Evidence-Based Critique

Expectations are high regarding the potential benefits of public-private partnerships (PPPs) for infrastructure development in low-income countries. The development community, led by the G20, the United Nations, and others, expects these partnerships between goverments and private companies in infrastructure service provision to aid ＂transformational＂ mega-projects, as well as efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Yet PPPs have been widely used only since the 1990s, and discussion of their efficacy is still dominated by best-practice guidance, academic studies that focus on developed countries, or ideological criticism. Meanwhile, practitioners have quietly accumulated a large body of empirical evidence on the actual performance of PPPs.

The purpose of this book is to summarize and consolidate what this critical mass of evidence-based research indicates about PPPs in low-income countries, and thereby develop a more realistic perspective on the practical value of these mechanisms. With a primary focus on Sub-Saharan Africa, though drawing on critical insights from other regions, it demonstrates that the benefits of such partnerships will only be realised if expectations remain modest and projects are subject to transparent evaluation and competition.

James Leigland, Technical Adviser, Private Infrastructure Development Group

James Leigland is the Technical Advisor and head of technical assistance at the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), a collection of investment companies that structure and finance private infrastructure investments in the world’s poorest countries, mostly in Africa, with support from a broad collection of donors. He has served as chairman of the Technical Review Panel for DFID’s Nigeria Infrastructure Advisory Facility (NIAF), and as the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Advisor on the PIDA Panel of Experts, a peer review team that evaluated the outputs of the Program for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA) on behalf of the African Union, NEPAD, and the African Development Bank.