Commission working on 10 projects requiring PPP deals

Malawi’s Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC), formerly Privatisation Commission (PC),says it is currently working on 10 projects that require public private partnership (PPP) arrangements.

PPPC director of project finance and risk analysis Audrey Mwala, speaking at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Malawi (Icam) annual conference in Mangochi on Friday, could, however, not disclose the projects in question.

“There are many projects in the pipeline… at Liwonde National Park, in the education sector, particularly accommodation for university students. There are projects in the ICT [information and communication technology] and transport sectors,” she said.

Mwala said this in response to questions from Icam delegates after making a presentation titled, ‘Project Finance’, which she defined as a means of raising long-term funds.

Asked to comment on what could be PPPC’s involvement in the Nsanje Port, which is part of the Shire-Zambezi Waterway, she said this is a “complicated and politically sensitive project”.

Said Mwala: “The issue [of Nsanje Port] was discussed at Sadc level. However, project financing will be the way to go.”

In her presentation, she cited angel and structure finance as some examples of project finance.

PPPC was established by an Act of Parliament as the only authority in the implementation of the PPP—a legally enforceable contract in which a contracting authority partners with the private sector—programme in Malawi.

According to PPPC, PPPs are intended not only to provide government with a service, but to do so in a way that improves the long-term sustainability of the service through enhanced efficiency, stronger human and institutional capacity, greater accountability and improved technology.

PPPs are different from the usual privatisation because projects could last at least three years since there is a lot of background work to be done.