Public–private partnership (PPP) and water-supply provision in urban Africa: The experience of Congo-Brazzaville

Abstract

This paper addresses the introduction of a public–private partnership (PPP) for water provision in urban Congo. It describes the organisational context before and after PPP and discusses the various outcomes of the partnership, both positive and negative. Despite some promising early results, the PPP arrangements did not develop as planned and the private enterprises ran into financial problems. The role of the political environment in compromising the potential benefits of PPP was important, and the article closes with some policy recommendations in light of Congo's ongoing negotiations with the international financial institutions to secure their assistance for new economic reforms.

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Notes on contributors

Gabriel Tati

Gabriel Tati is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Statistics at the University of the Western Cape. Prior to that, he was a lecturer at the University of Swaziland and also a Research Associate with the School of Social Sciences at the University of the Witswatersrand. His research interests include public–private partnership in the provision of public services, urbanisation and local institutions in land–property development, and the relationship between African migrant entrepreneurship, ethnic networks, and the appropriation of space in urban contexts.