Zambia’s Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane has advised that the Public-Private Partnership Act of 2009 will be repealed and replaced, according his 2023 Budget speech.
“To enhance the effectiveness of PPPs, Government will bring a Bill to repeal and replace the Public Private Partnership Act. Later in my Address, I will announce specific incentives to make PPPs more attractive for private sector participation”, read an extract of the Minister of Finance’s speech which he delivered in Lusaka at parliament building on 30 September 2022.
With the resource envelope showing a contraction when compared to his maiden budget deliver almost a year prior, the finance minister indicated that the Government will need private sector to play an important role. “Madam Speaker, in these times when financial resources are limited and yet the need for infrastructure remains critical, Public Private Partnership (PPP) approaches are an alternative source of financing for key developmental projects without overburdening the fiscus”.
Although the minister did not provide specifics of what the new Bill that will be presented to parliament that will lead to the enactment of a new PPP Act, the hope is that it will make the PPP process seamless. Confidence in this is due to the fact that Government has formalized its relationship with private sector. “Madam, to further strengthen collaboration between the public and the private sector, Government launched the Public Private Dialogue Forum with the support of Cooperating Partners”.
The minister believes “this forum will provide an opportunity for Government to interact with the private sector and provide practical solutions to the challenges hindering private sector growth”. Furthermore, it “underscores Government’s conviction that the private sector has a pivotal role to play in our economic transformation agenda”.
The current 2008 Act is currently undergoing amendment. According to the national parliament website, PPP Amendment Bill 2021 is at 3rd reading stage in parliament. The objective of this Bill is to amend the Public-Private Partnership Act, 2009, so as to revise the composition of the Public-Private Partnership Technical Committee.