Entrepreneur calls for active public private partnership

Mrs Kate Quartey-Papafio, Chief Executive Officer of Reroy Cables Limited, a subsidiary of Reroy Group, has called for effective public-private partnership (PPP) in addressing the country's energy situation.

Mrs Quartey-Papafio, also an Entrepreneur, said the public sector in developing countries has limited capacity in financing the required investments as well as operating efficiently, hence the need to attract investment on sustainable basis, which cannot be achieved by government efforts alone.

"Engaging the responsible private sector in development solutions can have a fundamental long-term impact on poverty alleviation and social development by increasing clients,' countries national competitiveness," she added.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mrs Quartey-Papafio noted that communities in Africa are increasingly looking to local and international capital markets to fund infrastructure projects.

Mrs Quartey-Papafio said experience of the past years shows that most countries would be better off working in a partnership with the private sector to achieve sustained efficiency gains and minimise fiscal financing requirements.

She said a key factor in Korea's successful economic and social transformation is the quality of its PPPs and has demonstrated an unprecedented capacity in making and implementing pragmatic policies to promote strategic trade and investment opportunities.

The Entrepreneur indicated that the provision of private sector financing helps to reduce the capital demands on the public treasury for infrastructure development.

"This is necessary because the development of Ghana's infrastructure requires minimum annual investments of approximately 12 per cent Gross Domestic Product and that the PPP model would provide government with more resources to spend on non-infrastructure projects."

Mrs Quartey-Papafio said policy makers and development partners have a critical role to play in the effective provision of public services and energy sector development in ensuring sustainable development in Africa.

"To provide room for the private sector to flourish, there is the need to strengthen commitments from African governments and their partners to meet Africa's critical investment needs," she added.

She noted that significant and sustained development in developing countries cannot be realised without the private sector's participation.

She said the private sector is the main engine for economic growth and development, which allows entrepreneurs to set the economic activity in motion by bringing resources together to produce goods and services.

"She added that through PPP, the private sector can bring in additional funding for public projects, as well as allow for a better and less costly provision of services compared to public sector provision of service alone".

Mrs Quartey-Papafio said the private sector starts from a small beginning and that it behooves government to support entrepreneurs with the needed confidence to operate since they help in building strong innovative strategies and produce quality products in complementing the country's infrastructural agenda.

She said the country needs power to increase productivity, and government must support the private sector to achieve the vision.

She noted that businesses like of Bill gates started from a humble beginning with strong PPP.

Mrs Quartey-Papafio expressed concern about the bureaucracy in the public sector, which frustrate the private sector both local and foreign to invest in the country, calling for measures to streamline the processes since it affects productivity.