A recent scan of the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC’s) Regional Infrastructure Development Master Plan has indicated that a number of the 200 projects listed have the potential to be pursued as public–private partnerships (PPPs).

The projects cover the full infrastructure portfolio, from electricity generation and transmission, through to transport, broadband telecommunications and water projects.

The project-pipeline scan – conducted by KPMG on behalf of the SADC PPP Network, with funding from Germany’s development financier, GIZ – found that at least 39 of the projects had potential to be packaged as PPPs.

SADC Development Finance Resource Centre PPP head Kogan Pillay tells Engineering News that work has also been done to rank the projects for ease of implementation ahead of a dialogue forum to be held in Johannesburg at the end of October.

The initial focus, the former National Treasury official explains, is on the “low-hanging fruit”, or projects perceived as having low implementation risk.

The intention is to then convert about five initiatives into bankable propositions so that implementation can begin, possibly as early as 2014.

However, SADC PPP Network’s Norma Kamushinda cautions that many governments in the region remain skeptical, with the dominant view being that PPPs are “extremely complex”.

She says the aim of the network, which was established in 2011, in line with a mandate outlined by SADC Ministers of Infrastructure in June 2010, is to establish mechanisms for expanding the use of PPPs in infrastructure development.

To do this, the network is working to demystify the concept, while building capacity within governments to manage PPPs. It is also facilitating structured dialogue and collaboration to improve the selection and design of future PPP projects.

Pillay says he is aware of the potential headwinds to projects as a result of global financial-market developments, but argues that there is a growing interest in Africa and African projects, owing to what is perceived to be a pent-up demand for infrastructure.

“We want to play a role as a catalyst by ensuring that projects are prepared properly so that they can be offered to potential investors and developers,” he concludes.