Vish Ashiagbor, a top management executive, says the successful execution of a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement is hinged on choosing a capable private partner.
The Country Senior Partner for PwC Ghana, an audit firm, said it was important for governments to understand that while the provision of public infrastructure was motivated by societal impact, the motive of the private was profit.
Mr Ashiagbor was speaking at the Stanbic/Graphic Business breakfast meeting held on Tuesday on the theme, “Public-private partnership as a financing option for sustainable development.”
He urged the government to ensure that the selection of private partners for PPP was based on the capability and credential to provide value for money and provide public infrastructure that government would have otherwise provided with scarce resources.
“Private sector that is operating a service has to meet certain performance indicators based on which they are remunerated so they cannot go to sleep and not deliver their part of the bargain,” he said.
He noted that the government must be willing to provide the support needed which could be in the form of debt guarantees and regulations for private partners to work effectively and achieve Key Performance Indicators (KPI).
“It is a contract. And as businesspeople, we know that even outside the contributions of the PPP, if you’re in a business contractual relationship, trust, communication, and shared authority are critical for the project to work,” he said.
Cynthia Ayebo Arthur, Acting Director of Public Investment and Asset Division at the Ministry of Finance, said that continuous engagements and communication are essential to foster basic understanding on obligations and rights for public-private sector collaboration.
She noted that as the local private sector built capacities, government is becoming less reliant on external partners.
Madam De-Sylvia Boatemaa Asare, Acting Chief Operating Officer for Identity Management Systems, called for the strengthening of legal framework and improving risk assessment management to ensure that PPPs were successful.
