Factors contributing to the success of public-private partnership for housing delivery in Nigeria

Abstract

Due to the observed mixed results in the application of public-private partnership (PPP) model, a variety of research have focused on identifying and establishing the relative importance of critical success factors (CSFs) of PPP projects. However, while the findings of those studies remain valuable, there seems to be no comprehensive measure of the contribution of the CSFs to the success of PPP projects particularly in the context of developing countries like Nigeria. Many assessment studies reported that the PPP housing scheme in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja and other PPP projects in Nigeria had recorded little success. With the acclaimed failure stories of the PPP projects in Nigeria, this empirical study, using a sequential mixed method research, investigated the underlying predictors and the extent of their contribution to the success of the PPP for housing delivery in Nigeria. A focus group interview was conducted to verify the appropriateness of the list of CSFs gleaned from the literature for PPP housing delivery in Nigeria. Subsequently, a survey was undertaken to elicit the opinion of both the public and private sector participants with regards to the extent of the contribution of the verified CSFs to the success of the PPP housing project in Abuja, Nigeria. The data was analyzed using Structural Equation Modeling. The findings of the study revealed that ‘effective procurement process’ has the highest contribution indicating a standard deviation of 96% while ‘favourable investment environment’ (FIE) has the lowest impact with a contribution of 40%. Based on the predictors of the CSFs, the study proposed a model for evaluating the success of PPP housing projects in Nigeria. The study concludes that lack of transparency in the procurement system, poor economic condition, poor governance, corruption, weak institutions, and incompetent private sector are the contextual peculiarities in Nigeria that influence the extent of contribution of the success factors.