Public Private Partnerships of Sierra Leone

Private sector development has been a main government focus during the last decade to help nurture the country’s recovery following the civil war. One project aimed at increasing private sector involvement in the public sector is the Private Sector Development Project. This aims to support the country’s efforts to improve investment, generate foreign and local investment and build government capacity for public–private partnerships. The government also voted in the Public–Private Partnerships Act of Sierra Leone, which is currently awaiting full implementation.

The United Nation Development Programme (UNDP) has been heavily involved in providing private sector development assistance to the government with the aim of helping the country achieve its development goals. As a result of this assistance, the Government of Sierra Leone made the decision in the third quarter of 2013 to establish the Public Private Partnership Unit under the Office of the

President to provide technical support for potential public–private partnership initiatives.

In November 2013 the international development consultancy IMC Worldwide announced that it would be involved in the management of a new programme funded by the Department for International Development. The project involves the implementation of a Public Private Partnership Support Unit, which was launched in November 2013. The overall objective of the programme is to develop infrastructure through private sector financing. Since this announcement, IMC Worldwide has begun carrying out feasibility studies for infrastructure projects, with the power, water and transport sectors currently the government’s key priorities for development and, as such, potential sectors for the involvement of PPPs.