Public-private perception of collaborative infrastructure projects in Nigeria

Abstract

The growing complexity of infrastructure projects, the attendant increase in project risk/uncertainty, the effects of the current global economic-recession, and the unprecedented demand on government agencies/institutions to provide better/efficient infrastructure/services have gradually reduced the need for a single supplier of many infrastructure services. However, the problems/issues associated with the implementation/operationalisation of collaborative engagement approaches worldwide over the last two decades prompted the need to identify/analyse the drivers of collaboration and determine the core-drivers of public-private sector collaboration in road infrastructure project management in Nigeria. In all, 45 survey-questionnaires were administered to relevant professionals/stakeholders in both the public and private sectors of Nigeria. The Mann-Whitney U test showed that there is no significant difference between the perception of the public and private sectors about the drivers of collaboration. The Relative Importance Index/ranking of the drivers also revealed that communication, trust, globalisation/collaboration, market-maturity, technology, relationships, finance, skills/competence, legal/regulatory framework, and risk are key-drivers that need to be aligned to existing business-models in Nigeria for the successful implementation/delivery of sustainable collaborative road infrastructure projects. Therefore, this paper advocates the establishment of a set of formal rules incorporating these core drivers in order to guide the actions of the partners to shape/deliver collaborative infrastructure projects in Nigeria.