The International Finance Corporation (IFC) is hosting a conference that will bring together 125 participants from across sub-Saharan Africa to help increase the capacity of key policy makers to accelerate access to safe and reliable water and sanitation services through targeted and well structured public-private partnerships (PPP) projects.

Participants include senior government officials in charge of water and sanitation, executives from water and sanitation utilities, financiers and private operators.

According to the Corporation, the event will provide an opportunity to revisit the progress made in water and sanitation PPPs in Africa and to learn from successful models in both the continent and the rest of the world.

In a statement June 6, 2012, Yolande Duhem, IFC’s Director for West and Central Africa, said “With rapid urbanization and a population exceeding 800 million, water provision in Sub-Saharan Africa is struggling to keep pace. To raise the coverage of safe water and sanitation, national governments must promote and harness the private sector to deliver high quality affordable sustainable services.”

The participants will be able to better understand the opportunities and challenges of public- private partnerships and appreciate the perspective of government, practitioners and financiers, the IFC indicated.

It adds that this will be achieved through promotion and dissemination of best practices in the management of the water and sanitation sectors; discussions of challenges facing utilities/operators/financiers; identification of areas where the private sector could add value; and discussions of innovative PPP approaches.

By Ekow Quandzie