Factors Influencing Implementation of Public-private Partnership Projects: a Case Study of the Nairobi Southern Bypass in Nairobi County, Kenya
Abstract
The study investigated factors influencing implementation of Public Private Partnership
(PPP) Projects with focus on the Nairobi Southern Bypass (NSB) PPP Project in Nairobi
County, Kenya. As PPPs keep on expanding in the Kenyan road sub-segment, suggestions for
successful application will be important for public road authorities, county governments,
contractors and managers. The study was guided by the following objectives, namely, to
establish the influence of procurement process on implementation of the Nairobi Southern
Bypass (NSB) PPP road project in Nairobi County, Kenya; to assess the influence of route
corridor availability on implementation of NSB PPP road project in Nairobi County, Kenya;
to examine the influence of politics on implementation of NSB PPP road project in Nairobi
County, Kenya and to determine the influence of budgeting on implementation of NSB PPP
road project in Nairobi County, Kenya. The study was conducted as a qualitative instrumental
case study, with qualitative data collected from key informants. Snow ball sampling was used
to identify 31 respondents comprising staff members working at PPP unit and Special
Projects department within Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) and China Road
and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), the implementing Contractor. In order to evaluate and
improve the reliability of the research instrument, a pilot test was conducted by interviewing
6 respondents who were part of the supervision consultancy staff. The selected respondents
had some information on the intricacies of the NSB project from procurement to construction
stage. Thematic and content analysis was used to sort and depict information in detail and to
decipher and make determinations. The findings of the study showed that procurement
process influenced the commencement time, cost and alternatives in terms of design options
for the NSB project. The study also found out that while politics did not influence
implementation of the project, budget considerations influenced implementation of the
project as delays in disbursing funds either led to slowing down of works or additional costs
in terms of accrued interest on delayed payments and contract prolongation costs. A
significant impediment to the study was that respondents, particularly from the Contractor
partner, were not ready to reveal full information, citing business confidentiality restrictions.
In conclusion, the NSB PPP project was procured very fast and had a very fast turnaround
time and could have been completed even faster had the route corridor been fully available
and payments made promptly. The study recommends that implementing agencies should
check thoroughly and consult with stakeholders on the extent/scope of projects to avoid
interference by politicians. The study further recommends that prior to commencing
construction work, the route corridor should be made fully available to the Contractor, free of
encumbrances in order to facilitate completion of the project within time and cost. The study
also recommends that for faster turnaround time, implementation of such projects should only
be done once all finances are in place.
Publisher
University of Nairobi
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5979]
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