Risk Management in Transport PPP Projects
In the Islamic Countries
102
It shall be noted that the project is being defined with a systemic approach, looking at the entire
mobility system in the city, not only from an infrastructural standpoint, but also to the
institutional settings standpoint. At the current stage, the management and control
responsibilities of the BRT are intended to be eventually transferred to the newly established
Greater Abidjan Urban Mobility Authority (AMUGA). Capacity-building activities for its AMUGA
staff and technical support for the development of planning tools are also foreseen to this
purpose.
Project preparation. After the initial pre/feasibility study, several studies have been launched
for project preparation, including some looking at specific key risk areas for its successful
implementation:
 A first demand analysis was completed in early 2018, as part of the pre-feasibility
study. A second demand study (funded by the WB) was in charge of auditing the
previous results and updating the Greater Abidjan multimodal traffic model, which
is owned by the Ministry of Transport and managed by BNETD. An additional more
detailed demand analysis is also undertaken as part of the technical studies to define
the operational plan and the preliminary technical design (now also in preparation);
 An initial financial and economic assessment (Cost-Benefit Analysis) was also
conducted by the World Bank to ensure that the Project generates enough economic
benefits to offset its investment. The analysis is built on top of the traffic studies, which
provide patronage and estimate of users benefits stemming from the new system;
 As part of the project assessment, the WB also conducted a full risk analysis and
mitigation measure identification. A risk matrix was used to this purpose, which
discussed risks related to the country level, the implementation entity level and the
project level. A system of monitoring and control, inclusive of external auditing, is
defined for the successful management of risks.
Screening for PPP suitability. As mentioned above, a preliminary financial and economic
analysis of the project was already conducted, and this also included a Value-for-Money
assessment of the project. In addition, a specific study was launched, with support form the
World Bank, aiming at confirming the project suitability for PPP, defining its financial structure
and outlining the main legal, regulatory, financial, technical and cost and risk sharing aspects of
that preferred model. The study will also support the definition of transaction advisory services
enabling the selection of the operator(s) in charge of the construction of infrastructure and BRT
associated facilities and the rolling stock. Possible options that will be analyzed in the course of
the study, comprise a PPP that includes both infrastructure and rolling stock, or public funding of
all or part of the infrastructure.
Based on the available information, the project is an example of good and comprehensive
project preparation, taking into account the risk dimension since the early project conception
stage. Also, strategic and systemic issues are also considered, covering not only the project in
isolation, but as part of the wider urban transport system.
Sources: Author’s interviews, World Bank (2019).