The Private Sector’s Role in the Provision of Infrastructure in Post-Conflict Countries: Patterns and Policy Options

It looks at some success stories that may offer useful policy lessons for other post-conflict countries. The investment patterns show that telecoms investments, particularly mobile telephony, materialize immediately after (sometimes even before) the end of the conflict. Electricity generation and distribution projects start to emerge about three years after the conflict and increase in frequency after year five. Private investment in transport and water tend to come much later. Within the transport sector, seaports receive the majority of private investment. The experiences of a number of conflict-affected countries, suggest that there is much in the policy front that conflict countries can do to speed up private investment in infrastructure, and thus the contribution of the private sector to reconstruction processes and the resumption of growth. Policy recommendations suggest that the timing of reforms is important. Stepped arrangements may also be considered, including a planned progression from modest forms of private participation in infrastructure (e.g., service or management contracts) to deeper forms such as leases or long-term concessions. Government can also encourage (and especially refrain from constraining or regulating out of existence) the development of small-scale private service providers. Although they are generally not well captured in the data, a number of case studies and user surveys suggest that these entrepreneurs often play a key role in the absence of fully-functioning states, established public utilities and major private investments.

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