Pros and cons of public/private partnerships...

Among the concepts which are hogging the headlines are Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs) and Public/Private Partnerships (P3, P3 or PPP: NOT to be confused with the ‘PPP’/Purchasing Power Parity in the GDP stakes!)

Both concepts do have their affirmative/positive (pro) and contrary/negative (con) sides. Each of the two does have relatively powerful supporters with deeply entrenched vested interests, usually in the form of financial holdings.

The school of thought associated with the ‘pros-side’ more often than not comprises manufacturers (of GMOs) and private sector investors seeking to muscle in on the action.

If these cannot do that on their own as purely private investors, they’ll push by hook and by crook for public/private partnerships. After all, half-a-loaf is better than no bread at all, right? I’m not sure!

Let’s move on to today’s story, prompted by two press reports in local English language dailies. One, titled ‘Public/Private Partnership best way to bring about development,’ was published in The Citizen on April 22 this year. The other titled simply ‘Increasing PPPs for agricultural growth’ was published in the Daily News On-line Edition on March 24, 2015.

Both stories were clearly positive regarding the PPP concept, heaping monumental expectations upon stakeholders!

In the Daily News article, Tanzania’s Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda “strongly believes Public/Private Partnerships are essential for advancing agriculture to meet Tanzania’s challenges in food security.

They help widen access to technology, and link farmers to markets. By combining strengths through PPPs, the govt, universities, NGOs, commercial partners and private sector farmers can all make better progress than on their own.”

In the event, Pinda encourages the govt “to get involved in such partnerships and develop new ones aimed at providing solutions along the country’s entire agricultural value-chain...”

In similar vein almost The Citizen story quotes the Mpwapwa District Commissioner in west-central Tanzania, Dr Jasmine Tiisekwa, as saying ‘development in many parts of the globe is attained through Public/Private Partnerships...”

In which case she urges businesses to explore and fully exploit the investment opportunities which are available in the district.

Mpwapwa has considerable potential in the areas of agriculture, mining, tourism, energy and livestock-keeping, Dr Tiisekwa says, stressing that PPP is “the best way to fast-track development in the District!”

Fair enough... In fact, that call is appropriate and applicable countrywide, not just in Mpwapwa.

But, there are serious drawbacks and barriers along the PPP road...This is especially so, considering that the private party in PPPs assumes substantial financial, technical and operational risks in participating!

That’s why one stakeholder in the district, Ackley Temu, noted that “the lack of good governance and poor working relationships in general between district officials and the business community retard

(socio-economic) development.”

Another stakeholder, Donald Riya, found fault with the current investment climate including “nuisance taxes on investors and traders,” which should be abolished “as one way of building confidence and encouragement” among such stakeholders.

Such calls have regularly been made for aeons by stakeholders and well-wishers seemingly without being heeded and acted upon by the relevant authorities! In the event, it remains an uphill, Sisyphean task to make the PPP concept work like Swiss clockwork in Tanzania! Indeed, Tanzania does have a PPP Policy, put in place in Nov. 2009.

But, according to the World Bank, there’s no one widely-accepted ‘definition’ of public-private partnership. In any case, PPPs are typically medium-to-long-term arrangements between the public and private sectors whereby some of the developmental obligations of the public sector are contractually provided by the private sector.