A Comparative Analysis Of The Use Of Unsolicited Proposal For The Delivery Of Public-Private Partnership Projects In Africa

Abstract

As countries across Africa continue to look for ways to develop their
infrastructure, the use of Unsolicited Proposals (USPs) in the procurement
of Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects have become very popular
across the continent. This is despite the widely held view that this
procurement model should be used with caution since it stifles
competition, is susceptible to abuse and, therefore, likely to lead to the
delivery of projects that do not deliver value for money. However, apart
from a few studies and despite the very pervasive use of USPs across the
continent, there has been very minimal academic inquiry on the use of
this procurement approach in Africa. This article, therefore, contributes
to this very important area by first distilling a best practice framework as
a guide for countries to use in procuring USPs. Secondly, the paper
evaluates the experiences of four different African countries in the use of
USPs, using the framework as a guide. The lessons learnt are then used
to make recommendations for improvement in the procurement of USPs
across Africa.