Increase PPPs in agric, environmental sectors — Research report
The United Nations University Institute for Natural Resources in Africa (UNU-INRA) has made a strong case for sub-Saharan Africa countries to increase public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the agricultural and environmental sectors in the sub-region.
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It said private businesses in the sub-region stood the chance of flourishing through PPPs to better the economies of the respective countries.
This formed part of a draft report of a research conducted by the UNU that was made known at a national dissemination workshop in Accra last Thursday.
The research project, titled: “Improving the development outcomes of PPPs in agriculture and the environment,” was to address the knowledge gap on PPPs by providing policymakers with the requisite knowledge of how their operations could be improved to contribute significantly to increased food security, social inclusion and poverty reduction.
Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the project took place in six sub-Saharan African countries — Ghana, Cameroon, Burundi, Mozambique, Senegal and South Africa.
Growth of PPPs in Ghana
In a presentation, the country consultant on the project for UNU-INRA in Ghana, Dr Richard Bonsi, stated that the research established that the introduction of the PPP concept had enhanced business operations in many parts of the country.
Out of the 12 businesses studied, he said, six were contributing significantly to the growth of the national economy.
“The research established that more than 67 per cent of the companies were contributing significantly to the incomes of the local communities in which they operated,” he said.
But he was quick to add that those companies encountered various challenges, including increasing inflation and unstable exchange rates, hence the need for the government to expand the scope and open avenues for businesses to operate in a friendly environment.
Expected outcomes of dissemination workshops
In an interview, a Research Fellow on Green Economy with the UNU-INRA, Dr Calvin Atewamba, said it was expected that the various dissemination workshops which would adopt the draft reports would inform decision-making at both the regional and the national levels.
Earlier in his presentation, the Director of the UNU-INRA, Dr Elias T. Ayuk, underscored the need for the government to create a conducive atmosphere for the private sector to thrive significantly, “since the sector has enough resources to partner governments for sustained growth”.