Public-Private Partnership and Infrastructure Development in Asunafo North Municipal Assembly of the Ahafo Region in Ghana.

Abstract

The study sought to examine the use of public-private partnership in the provision of public infrastructure by the Asunafo North Municipal Assembly. The essence of public infrastructure in ensuring the socio-economic advancement of any country cannot be gainsaid. Despite this reality, available literature shows that there exists a very huge gap in the provision of public infrastructure globally, with developing countries feeling the effect the most. The search for a lasting solution to this problem led to some scholars and development partners recommending public-private partnership as the panacea or an antidote to the infrastructural problem being faced by many countries or government organizations. The implementation of PPP policies itself equally comes with certain issues that should be considered to ensure a successful implementation of the policy. The study adopted a qualitative approach and hence relied heavily on interviews to collect data from the field. Other secondary sources of data such as minutes, reports, development plans among others were extensively used. The rational actor model and the complexity of joint action theory as used by Pressman and Wildavsky were used to examine the findings from the field. The study found out that resource constraint is the basic reason why the Assembly entered into PPP agreements and BOT and BOO are the main forms of PPP being used by the Assembly. Lack of competitive bidding, prolonged operational periods by the private partners, access to relevant information, land issues, excessive bureaucratic systems among others are some of the challenges confronting the Assembly in its bid to adopt PPP in the provision of infrastructure.