PPPs endorsed on banks of Victoria Lake

There is a place, where Nile is born and local people can show you exactly where it is. It is such a privilege to see that place, which was searched for, by generations of explorers in Africa. Yeas I am talking about the place on the banks of Victoria Lake. Another perhaps important birth is taking place here at Munyonyo on the Ugandan Banks of Victoria Lake just now.

Ugandan president Museveni is hosting in this luxury resort over 1000 delegates from number of African countries including 4 other presidents to discuss how to go forward in transformation of Africa and the first day of dialogue kicked off with strong call for public private partnerships. When I was in Munyonyo last year, to hold a Regional PPP Forum for Anglophone Africa, we did have no idea, that just a year later will our efforts to push PPPs in Africa be endorsed by the most needed element in PPPs – which is broad political support from the top of the public sector pyramid. This clearly happened in Munyonyo this year and it is not just political endorsement of one country or one president, this is endorsement and consensus of Africa.

PPPs are taking nowadays strong roots in Africa. I remember couple of years ago, African PPPs were about South Africa, which first pioneered PPPs on the African continent, in modern times, establishing strong PPP Unit at the Ministry of Finance. And then I have heard very mixed news regarding PPPs coming over last years from the region. Number of countries transformed their privatization capacity in to a public private partnership capacity, building new institutions and new policies and often needed to adopt a new legislation. South Africa has been followed by Mauritius, setting up its PPP Unit and establishing PPP Policy in 2003. In the meantime number of other African countries got involved in PPPs on the project by project basis. I have to mention Maputo Port concession in Mozambique of 2003, Songas Processing Plant in Tanzania of 2004, Skikda Desalination Plant in Algeria of 2005 and Lesotho National Hospital in 2007 and most recent Ugandan Power PPP project at Bujagali. When you look at the map of PPP in Africa today , you can clearly see that PPPs have taken strong roots here and with the sort of political support that the 19th Global Smart Partnership Dialogue provided in Munyonyo this year, I do expect Africa to become regular player on the PPP global market.