Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) and Sub Saharan Economic Transformation: A Cross Country Case Studies Approach.

This paper examines the role of public private partnerships (PPPs), a new development paradigm used by some Sub Saharan African countries as agents of their economic transformation. Some PPP contracts in East African countries namely Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya were studied. Also PPPs in Lesotho in South African region and Nigeria in West African region were analysed. The objective of the study is to assess how PPP arrangements in some sub-Saharan African countries can facilitate economic transformation of those economies. The research utilized mainly secondary data sources and adopted content analysis of various library materials and internet sources. The research found that while Da es Salaam water distribution PPP project failed, Lesotho National Referral Hospital project succeeded. Kenya-Uganda railways project took off but was plagued with problems arising from contract breaches by parties. MMA2 Airport project in Nigeria and Lekki Tool Road concession project in Lagos were successfully executed though not free of execution problems. The paper concludes that PPP projects if properly executed can facilitate economic transformation of sub Saharan African economies. The paper recommends to SSA economies to adopt international best practices in PPP contract executions to ensure success.