- Says policy will succeed in Nigeria, other economies if…
BY CHAMBERLAIN ODEY, JOS – A Law lecturer at the Roehampton Law School, the University of Roehampton in London, Dr Augustine Arimoro, has blamed over-regulation for the ineffectiveness of Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) in Nigeria.
However, he said the PPP can succeed in the country and other emerging economies with the right disposition that makes it investor-friendly with easy-to-manage features for effective service delivery.
Dr Arimoro, a graduate of the University of Jos, and former Law lecturer at the Nottingham Trent University, Nottingham, United Kingdom (UK), spoke with newsmen in Jos, the Plateau State capital, to premiere his book titled ‘Public-Private Partnerships in Emerging Economies’.
Describing PPP as overregulated and not investor-friendly in Nigeria, Arimoro said this development explains the reason for the obvious shortcomings, especially in sectors that determine the well-being of the citizenry such as the delivery of infrastructure services.
He said the government needs to be proactive and determined in terms of its policy on PPP, stressing that his new “book explored the legal, institutional, and regulatory frameworks for public-private partnerships (PPP) in emerging economies, using the comparative legal research methodology, and also examines how the model works in at least four other emerging economies namely, Brazil, India, Nigeria, and South Africa.”
According to him; “Throughout the book, the heart of the discussion is the need to make emerging economies investor-friendly to attract funding for PPP projects”, he noted”, adding that “the book also discusses the PPP model and how it can be used as an alternative to traditional public procurement given the challenges with budget constraints around the world.
“Brazil, India, Nigeria and South Africa all intend to use the PPP model as a means for bridging their respective infrastructure gaps, but to achieve the goal of building public infrastructure through the financial support and the expertise of the private sector, the governments must do more than just produce policies. Sectors such as energy, transport, water supply, and power are considered critical areas in emerging economies.”
The University don further postulated that; “There is need to clearly define what they intend to achieve with the PPP model. It is not enough to create a framework for PPP and to make it a state policy. There must be clarity in terms of expectations and how the goals set can be achieved using the model. This is one area of shortcoming in most emerging and developing economies, and it should not be business as usual”.
Arimoro also insisted that; “countries should not just copy templates from developed economies without considering whether such templates can work in their immediate environments. Developing economies must learn from what their peers are doing right, learn and try to implement this in their jurisdictions.
“Some of the challenges in PPP with emerging economies include the issues of weak institutions, weak business environments, cost of acquiring finance, the scarcity of long-term domestic funding, the high exposure to foreign currency exchange risks when funds are sourced internationally, and lack of expertise”.
The Law teacher said steps must be taken to engage in the regular review of PPP laws and guidelines, adding that emerging economies must also work to overcome the slow law reform processes and ensure the law is always in tune with the reality of the times.
