10 – 29 May 2009, Midrand, South Africa

This workshop was organised in conjunction with the Development Bank of Southern Africa, and was funded by the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF). The programme was developed and facilitated by a team from the John Deutsche International Executive Programmes of Queens University in Canada. It is a three week programme which focuses on the appraisal of public-private participation in infrastructure projects. There were 24 participants drawn from development finance institutions, state-owned enterprises, government agencies and governments in the SADC region as well as East, Central and West Africa. This programme, being the first of its kind, is a test case on how such interventions can evolve, given the increasing use of PPPs as a tool for procurement of infrastructure projects by many governments in Africa.

In May 2009, the DFRC in collaboration with the Public-Private Infrastructural Advisory Facility (PPIAF) completed the development of a curriculum and training materials for Appraisal of Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure projects with the technical expertise of the John Deutsche International Executive Programmes of Queens University. The programme was successfully tested on delegates from the DFIs, governments and PPP units through a three week programme in May. Stakeholder consultations reviewed the experiences with the programme, and made proposals for its refinement. The DFRC has accepted this programme as an integral part of its capacity building programme, and plans to hold this programme at least once a year. It is currently exploring with the PPIAF and other cooperating partners on mechanisms for financing any future programme.

Public-Private Partnerships and Infrastructure Development

The DFRC submitted a proposal on capacity building, institution-building and policy development in the field of Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the SADC countries. The proposal was well received by the German GTZ and received the full support of the SADC Secretariat, specifically TIFI and the Infrastructure and Services Directorates. Other interested partner institutions include DBSA and the World Bank Institute.

The proposal envisions a programme of skills development for staff of governments, state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and DFIs in public-private partnerships, particularly in infrastructure development, while facilitating the establishment of PPP units in government or government agencies across the region. This will be complemented by studies and workshops to strengthen the policy and legislative framework conducive to PPPs growth.