People First Public Private Partnerships (PfPPPs) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs): an African perspective
People-First PPPs (PfPPPs) set out a clear statement that out of all the project stakeholders, people should be the priority and main beneficiary. The focus of PfPPPs should be in increasing access to water, energy, transport and education for instance, particularly for the most vulnerable segments of society. PfPPPs should also promote social cohesion, justice and disavow all forms of discrimination based on culture, ethnicity or creed.
The five criteria that define People First-PPPs (PfPPPs) also go beyond the traditional quantitative analysis of projects and focus on both qualitative and quantitative dimensions before, during and after a project’s implementation.
PfPPPs include projects that deliver the following outcomes:
- Improve access to essential services and reduce social inequality and injustice;
- Improve economic effectiveness and fiscal sustainability;
- Enhance environmental sustainability and resilience;
- Promote replicability and development of future projects; and
- Ensure large stakeholder engagement.
These criteria, or outcomes, together constitute what is called a PfPPP. UNECE is currently working on a self-assessment tool with the intent to offer applicants the possibility to evaluate a project compliance to the PfPPPs outcomes. But with an infrastructure-financing gap in Africa estimated to be in the range of USD52-92 billion, working only on a small number of PfPPP projects will not be sufficient going forward.
