The Bank financed Eighteen (18) PPP-related Institutional Support Projects (ISPs) in 15 countries (See Annex 5 in Volume 2 of the Inception Report: PPP-Related ISPs). The total net commitment for these operations is UA 387.4 million with an average amount of UA 21.5 million per operation. The regional distribution indicate that 99% of the total amount committed is concentrated in the Central (UA 247.5 million) and Northern (UA 137.4 million) regions. In terms of number of projects, 77% are concentrated in Central (6 projects) and Eastern (8 projects) Africa, followed by the Southern region with two (2) projects in Mauritius and Namibia, and the Northern and Western regions with one (1) project each. Two (2) ISPs have recently been approved, twelve (12) are ongoing, and four (4) were completed. These ISPs have served Enabling environment factors such as highlighted in Table 5.
Table 5: Distribution of PPP-related ISPs by Enabling Factors
Enabling Environment Factors | No. | Net Approvals | Countries |
PPP Unit Development | 3 (16.7%) | 138.795 (35.8%) | Cape Verde, DRC, Tanzania |
Operationalization of PPP dialogue platform | 3 (16.7%) | 5.335 (1.4%) | Chad, Comoros, Mauritania |
PPP Legal and Regulatory Framework | 4 (22.2%) | 161.613 (41.7%) | Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon, Seychelles |
PPP Policy Framework | 6 (33.3%) | 68.482 (17.7%) | Ethiopia, Madagascar (2), Mauritius, Seychelles, Zimbabwe |
Capacity Building & Feasibility Studies (incl. Training, Study tours, capacity needs assessments) | 2 (11.1%) | 12.787 (3.3%) | Namibia, Tanzania |
Total | 18 (100%) | 387.4 (100%) | 15 countries |
As shown in Table 5 above, the bulk of the PPP-related ISPs was for the creation of the PPP legal and regulatory framework and the development of PPP Units (77% of net amounts) while only few (1.4%) were allocated to operationalizing the PPP Dialogue platform which may be explained by the increased commitment of African countries to create the enabling environment for PPPs. Nevertheless, the development of the PPP policy framework represents the third of the total number of ISPs but only 17.7% of the total net approval amounts (with an average of UA 11,4 million per project).
In addition to these PPP-related ISPs, the Bank has funded technical assistance for PPP projects as well as a loan to build capacity for PPP infrastructure in Nigeria. OPSD provided the technical assistance via the FAPA fund and three PPP projects were identified over the review period. Table 6 below shows the details of these projects.
Table 6: Technical Assistance for PPP Projects by FAPA as of 31 December 201335
Country | Project Name | Approval Date | Amount (US) | Short Objective/Description |
Regional | Gambia River Basin Development (OMVG) | 22-Jun-2006 | $800,000 | To finance the services of an Advisory Mission to propose to the Authorities of the Gambia River Basin Development Organization (OMVG) a public-private partnership (PPP) option to optimize the implementation of three power projects. Co-financed with NEPAD IPPF. |
Regional | Central Africa IT Backbone | 8-Dec-2008 | $501,760 | Finalize the pre-investment studies and prepare the project for implementation (technical and environmental studies, harmonization of national and regional ICT legislation); establish a PPP operation for the implementation, operation and maintenance of the CAB project. Co-financed with NEPAD IPPF. |
Regional | Public Private Partnership (PPP) Port survey | 19/12/2013 | $491 450 | Identification of Bank interventions for Public Private Partnership (PPP) Port projects. |
Source: IDEV
It is important to note that few of these countries mentioned above have active PPP portfolio under the private sector window36. Also, on the governance side, several departments have responsibilities for PPPs but with no single focal point. The line departments that support infrastructure (energy, water, transport) work both upstream and downstream on PPPs. The Private Sector Operations Department works on private sector development, as well as equity and loan participations directly with private sector. The Governance, Finance, and Economic Management Department works on upstream public sector management, including accounting for financial exposure. The Regional Integration and Trade Department acts as the secretariat for the Infrastructure Consortium of Africa (ICA), as well as being the point of contact with other Africa-based institutions, such as the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa and the African Union and their infrastructure units.
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36 This can be explained by the disconnect between the demand side for ISPs and the actual active portfolio while possible lack of coordination between OPSD and OSGE may exist in delivering the advisory services and capacity building activities on PPs.