By Vasile Nicolae Olievschi, Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP) Working Paper No. 94, World Bank, March 2013 (English and French). The study analyzes existing railway concessions in Sub-Saharan Africa. It identifies issues and possible improvements at the level of government policies and regulatory frameworks required to restore competitiveness of the rail networks through PPPs. Included is a list of the most urgent recommendations to be implemented in the first stage.

 

Model Concession Agreement (MCA) for PPP in Container Train Operation - Concession agreement between Indian Railway Authority and container train operator (“Concessionaire”).

 

International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), April 2013 

 

Compulsory acquisition is the power of government to acquire private rights in land for a public purpose, without the willing consent of its owner or occupant (Keith, 2008). This power is known by a variety of names depending on a country’s legal traditions, including eminent domain, expropriation, takings and compulsory purchase. Regardless of the label, compulsory acquisition is a critical development tool for governments, and for ensuring that land is available when needed for essential infrastructure - a contingency that land markets are not always able to meet. Yet despite being a core and necessary governmental power, compulsory acquisition has always attracted controversy, both in theory and practice. The reasons for this are unsurprising. Whenever people are displaced, the human costs in terms of disruption to community cohesion, livelihood patterns and way of life, may go beyond what can be fully mitigated through standard compensation packages, however generous those may be. Such inevitable costs are compounded, sometimes many times over, where the process is designed or implemented poorly - tenure insecurity is exacerbated, land markets are weakened, investment incentives are undermined, corruption is facilitated, and communities and livelihoods may be destroyed. Although the compulsory acquisition power is deeply rooted in virtually all legal systems, the establishment of efficient and fair legal and institutional frameworks for exercising this power remains unfinished business in many countries around the world. From Brazil and China to Ghana and the United States, the task of better defining the principles and processes that govern compulsory acquisition powers is one that is very much alive and at the heart of current land policy debates.