Investigating the role of the Public Private Partnership Act on private sector participation in PPP projects : A case of Zambia

In 2008, the Public Private Partnership (PPP) concept was identified by the Zambian Government as a vehicle for scaling up public infrastructure project delivery in the country. A platform for active private sector participation in the direct provision of public goods and services was created by enacting the PPP Act No. 14 of 2009. It was anticipated that this would encourage the local and international private sector to participate in delivering PPP projects. The aim of this research was therefore to investigate the role of this PPP Act on the private sector’s decision to participate in PPP projects in Zambia. A mixed method design was adopted for this research due to limited information and stakeholders on the ground. 43 industry practioners representing contractors, developers’ financiers and government were identified motivating a mixed method approach in order to obtain more data given a generally lower sample available. A total of 27 questionnaires were obtained. Findings revealed that the PPP Act had not played a significant role to influence private sector decision to participate in PPP projects. The findings from this research unlocks part of the reason why there is little participation by private sector in PPP projects. The research identifies presents areas of focus in amending the Act in order to attract and influence private investment in current critical areas such as energy, higher education and housing among others. The study recommends that the immediate revision of PPP Act to remove identified barriers which among others include inadequate and unclear governing PPP framework, obstruction by bureaucracy, inappropriate risk sharing mechanisms and absence of protection to the private sector stakeholders.