Private Sector Involvement in Road Financing

Achieving private sector involvement in
financing, provision and management of roads requires
specialized legal and institutional frameworks, public
sector expertise, advisor support and sustained political
commitment. In many African States, there is little
experience of private sector involvement in the road sector
but there is encouragement to promote such involvement from
development partners. Increased private sector involvement
in public sector procurement has been for many years an
important aspect of the infrastructure investment policy of
development partners, such as the World Bank and the African
Development Bank. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) are one
of a number of initiatives being pursued within Africa, in
relation to road sector reforms. In particular, the road
sector reforms under the Road Management Initiative (RMI),
launched in 1988 by the SSATP and the World Bank, in
collaboration with other development partners have sought to
improve road service delivery by reforming public sector
institutions and legislation through clearly defined
responsibility, ownership, stable financing and
commercialized road management. Section two of this paper
provides the general requirements for private sector
involvement in road financing, provision and management,
including contractual and procurement issues. Section 3
introduces the three case study projects. Sections four,
five, and six provide the findings of the case studies
undertaken in Dakar, Accra and Lagos respectively. Section
seven summarizes the conclusions of key issues and policy
guidance from the case study analysis.