Risk Management in Transport PPP Projects
In the Islamic Countries
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investment promotion policies, as well as the established cooperation with international
organizations and IFIs, PPPs in Côte d'Ivoire represent an attractive investment
opportunity to foreign investors;
 The experience of early PPP schemes revealed some weaknesses in the overall PPP risk
management practice, in particular with respect to the monitoring of projects and their
possible implications for the state budget; these issues have partly been already
addressed, and efforts are still ongoing by the institutions (in particular CNP-PPP and the
Ministry of Budget) to further strengthen their capacity and skills, also with the support of
Multilateral Agencies and International Funding Institutions;
 In terms of strategic vision , PPPs are still seen primarily as a means to deliver assets
without imposing burdens on state resources. However, efficiency expectations are also
mentioned as a reason supporting the promotion of PPP solutions, as private operators
are considered able to deliver services to customers more efficiently than public entities;
 The current programming and planning approach seems to focus on individual projects,
overlooking the overall planning and regulation of the different sectors – and specifically
transport. This may result in inconsistent and uncoordinated initiatives, for example under
the standpoint of tariff setting, which may be defined on a case-by-case basis to ensure
project profitability and bankability but leading to fragmentation of the tariff policy.
Policy recommendations
The following policy recommendations can be drawn based on the review of the experience with
PPP initiatives in Côte d'Ivoire:
 Political measures: PPPs should be conceived, planned and implemented in the wider
framework of transport development strategies, which is currently not in place at the
national level, whereas it was defined for the city of Abidjan. Transport strategies are
therefore only embedded in the national strategy, and this may lead to overlook sector
specificities.
 Institutional and organizational measures: The institutional setting directly dealing
with PPPs seems well set up and institutions seem gradually improving their capabilities
and skills, based on specific training and support form external consultants and
institutions, as well as based on a learning by doing approach. This trend should be further
strengthened in light of the number of PPPs currently included in the project pipeline.
Finally, due course should be given to the recent measures introducing regulatory and
planning entities in the transport sector, such as the Autorité de régulation du transport
intérieur and the Agency of Abidjan), to avoid fragmentation in the sector arising from the
different projects being implemented.
Technical measures: An important step is the identification of the “PPP project”
boundaries. This relates to the fact that the components of a project suitable for a PPP
procurement route are not necessarily identical to those of a similar project
implemented through conventional procurement. To think about the definition of the