Govt pursues 15 projects under PPP
Government is currently pursuing 15 infrastructure projects under its private-public partnership (PPP) initiative with a US$ 30 million facility from the World Bank.
The Director of the Public Investment Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MoFEP), Mrs Magdalene Apenteng, said the projects were expected to help in terms of capacity building and ensure that the country put together a line of projects to entice the private sector to undertake infrastructure projects.
“There are about 15 projects in the pipeline, with six being effectively prepared by various transaction advisors that are on board, and I am hopeful that by next year some good projects would be seen on the ground,” she said at the launch of the first Global PPP conference to be held in Ghana from August 18– 21, 2014.
The government, she said, had not spent much due to initial processes involved.
“We have just spent about US$3 million to do initial studies and preparation to move into action. Between US$12 and US$15 million of the facility is for project development. I just want to understand that depending on the size of project, the amount used for preparation could be very big. We have assumed a smooth-saving position, and I am sure we are going to move faster. We are hopeful that by next year we should have some of these projects on board,” she said.
In terms of institutional capacity building, she said there were PPP cells- a group of about five in various ministries, departments and agencies- which were responsible to ensure that PPP took root in their ministries.
They are also to ensure that the projects are well prepared and well developed for the market, providing them with capacity in terms of their knowledge base.
“For such a huge programme, there is the need for an institutional process, so we need to look at the various institutions that are involved. As the name connotes, obviously the public sector and the private sector is involved, so we have a steering committee consisting of both public and private players to look at the project to ensure effectiveness,” she said.
New PPP Bill
A draft bill on PPP will soon be presented to cabinet for approval and subsequently presented to Parliament for consideration and passage into law by the end of the year.
This follows a national policy document on PPP put together and approved in 2011. Mrs Apenteng hinted that by the end of the year, the PPP Law would be in place.
She said the law would come along with its regulations and guidelines to ensure that processes were followed diligently.
PPP conference
C-NERGY Global Holdings, an investment advisory firm, in partnership with the MoFEP, is organising the conference on the theme, “Addressing Ghana’s Infrastructure Deficit: Moving from Policy to Implementation- The Public-Private Partnership Alternative.”
Organisers said the conference was basically to position Ghana as an attractive investment destination for PPPs. About 500 delegates across the world are expected to participate.
The Director of C-NERGY Global Holdings, Mr George K. Fosu, said the global PPP conference spoke volumes about the importance of the government’s agenda to engage the private sector to grow and develop the economy.
He said the conference had been structured to help delegates get an understanding of the government’s priority sectors with regards to infrastructure development and expansion.
“A key component of the conference is to afford interested parties, be they in the private or public sectors, the opportunity to begin to understand how to structure and execute a public-private partnership. It will not be merely a talk shop but an initiative to proffer pragmatic steps to help us move in the right direction to transform our society,” he said.
He added that the conference was also to share international best practices, so that lessons learnt would provide guidance to the government as it sought to widen the PPP path to bridge the infrastructure gap.