By Chijioke Churuba
During the periods of 2003-2007, private enterprises were encouraged to participate in the economic affairs of Nigeria through the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS) of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
The National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy was a medium term economic plan– that aimed at wealth creation, job creation, economic empowerment, and poverty alleviation, among other things, through the deregulation and liberalization of key public enterprises and the promotion of private enterprises in the national economy.
Like many other economic programs and plans in Nigeria, its total implementation has not been followed through by successive administrations both at the national, state and local government levels.
Nevertheless, some states such as Anambra and Lagos have over the years enabled the participation of private enterprises in their domestic economies through public- private partnerships.
Public–private partnerships bring the public and the private sectors together to initiate, facilitate, enable, fund, execute, manage, monitor and regulate a project in order to achieve public good and deliver economic returns or rewards for the private investor(s).
Public-private partnerships help to unleash and inject fresh capital, skills, technology, innovation and expertise into an economy to achieve efficiency, productivity and employment gains. They can be very beneficial during economic meltdown, lean resources and economic recovery periods.
Public–private partnerships are usually driven by private sector inspired protocols, and business practices. The participating private investor bears some or all the financial risks, while, the participating government creates the enabling economic environment, monitors and regulates the project to protect public interest.
The outcomes of public-private partnerships across states in Nigeria are mixed. However, some states such as Lagos and Anambra have reasonably deepened the participation of private enterprises in their domestic economies through various forms of public-private partnerships.
Some have argued that the unique and legacy advantages of Lagos and Anambra have made public-private partnerships in these states more practicable than some other states in Nigeria.
For instance, the old Anambra State, it has been argued, was at some point the melting point of eastern politics, entrepreneurship and economic renaissance and thus, better equipped to accommodate the complexities of public-private partnerships.
Notwithstanding this argument, a state like Imo can brace up and use public-private partnerships to unlock its economic potentials.
Imo State has the potentials to compete with Anambra State in the areas of industrialization, entrepreneurship and commercial activities.
The state is strategically located and shares common boundaries with Anambra and Abia – two key states known for their strong entrepreneurial and commercial activities. One expects some form of knock on effects from these neighboring states.
An industrial or commercial cluster under public-private partnerships around Owerri West/Ngor Okpala axis – that shares boundaries with Abia and Rivers States – could attract the necessary capital, expertise, technology and entrepreneurial skills to serve the neighboring markets of Abia, Rivers and even Akwa Ibom State.
The Imo State International Cargo Airport- at Ngor Okpala makes this proposal very bankable. This could also create a new city outside Owerri Main Town with possible business and urbanization dividends for the neighboring Aboh Mbaise local Government. Similar industrial and commercial hubs could also be built around the Orlu-Okigwe axis in line with the business imperatives of that axis.
It is important to note that the greatest assets of Imo State are not the crude oil deposits at Oguta, Ohaji/Egbema axis or the huge oil prospects in Ngor Okpala with its rich agricultural potentials and huge landmass.
It is also, not the huge agricultural potentials around the Okigwe area, and other local governments. All these are necessary, but not sufficient, to transform the state into a modern one.
The greatest assets of the state are the quality of its human capital – yet to be leveraged.
The state has a huge young, educated and entrepreneurial population both at home and in Diaspora – eager and passionate to invest in the State under the right conditions.
Imo State has consistently over the years, become one of the best performing in the area of education. This feat, it should be noted, is largely private sector driven.
With the quality of its human capital and the deep entrepreneurial and commercial prospects of Imo State, public-private partnerships would help to unlock the commercial, business and economic potentials of the state.
To this end, it is important, for the state to understudy the various public- private partnerships, which have succeeded in other states and see how they could be replicated.
It is also critical, that the state learns from the mistakes of public-private partnerships in other states, which have failed in order not to repeat such mistakes.
Vested interests are destructive enablers of public-private partnerships failures in Nigeria. Thus, if public- private partnerships must succeed in Imo State, they should be pursued with utmost transparency where economics and public good are made the overriding objectives. Independent non-partisan audit and monitoring firms should also be engaged during the implementation process to strengthen governance.
Again, the state must ramp up its institutional capacity to be able to engage and carry out such initiatives.
Institutional capacity should be well developed, to be able to engage key aspects of public-private partnerships such as project conceptualization, project design and costing, risk assessment and mitigation, drafting of contractual agreements, negotiations, stakeholder’s engagement, project execution, project monitoring (to ensure that budget, quality and timeline targets are met), successful project closure and post execution analysis.
Finally, it should be noted that the success of public-private partnerships in Imo State would also require an implementation process that is carried out in a manner that promotes local content, local capacities and generates employment for the good people of Imo State with minimal discontents.
Chijioke Churuba, Managing Consultant Sprog Consulting Limited, wrote in from Port Harcourt, Rivers State