Government to regulate public-private partnerships

The Government has proposed a law governing public-private partnerships as a step toward courting investments in key development projects. Tabled before Parliament by the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) in April, the Bill provides for the legal framework concerning establishment, implementation, and management of public-private partnerships (PPPs). Among the proposed principles is that PPP projects will be procured on a competitive basis. Transparency, fairness, non-discrimination, efficiency, effectiveness, protection of public property and public interest, and accountability, will be the other values governing the procurement process for PPPs. Under Article 4 of the draft law, the application of PPPs must be closely aligned to government’s development goals and strategies, with contractors opting to apply for the management of government contracts or investing in infrastructure projects on the basis of Lease-Operate-Develop (LOD), Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT), Build-Operate-Own, as well as any other PPP arrangement that may be prescribed by guidelines or policies supplementing the law on PPPs. RDB chief executive Francis Gatare said Rwanda needs a special law to regulate PPPs because the ordinary law on public procurement is not enough. “Increasingly, large investment projects require the partnership between government and the private sector. Ordinary government expenditure is governed by public procurement law. The public procurement law, however, was not suited to handle public-private partnership procurement. As such, a legal framework was needed to ensure that the government receives value for money with each PPP project,” Gatare said in an e-mail to The New Times on Monday. Simplfying PPP execution Gatare explained that the PPP Bill, once enacted into law, will ensure that execution of PPPs is simplified to be in line with the government’s policy and development goals such as the second Economic Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy (EDPRS II) as well as Vision 2020. “The PPP law will ensure conformity to international best practices for evaluating and negotiating PPPs, providing a guiding framework for the government representatives negotiating such projects. Investors considering business in Rwanda will be attracted by the predictability of a clear legal framework for how PPP projects are managed in our country,” Gatare said. Governing sectors The law on PPPs will govern different sectors, including transport as well as various forms of energy, municipal infrastructure projects such as the provision of water, waste management, and industrial parks. If legislators approve the draft law in its current form, other sectors that it will govern include social infrastructure such as those related to education, culture, health, tourism, sports and leisure, as well as infrastructure related to prisons, forestry, public housing and land, oil and gas pipelines, mining, telecommunication, and information communication technology (ICT). Under the draft law, a “PPP Authority” is established as a centre of expertise hosted by RDB, which will be providing assistance to government agencies and municipal authorities in developing, evaluating, and negotiating PPP projects. The draft law also proposes that a steering committee headed by a representative of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning is set up to oversee various stages of the procurement procedure for PPP projects. Scrutiny of the Bill is at an early stage before the standing Committee on Economy and Trade. MPs are likely to debate it in the forthcoming ordinary term that begins later this week. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Government to regulate public-private partnerships