Public-Private Partnerships for Enhancing Organizational Capabilities in Nigeria.

Abstract

Policy transfer has been widespread in developing African countries aiming to implement initiatives that have been adopted in the past in another country (primarily a western one) when faced with a socio-economic crisis. Local regeneration partnerships being one of such policy initiatives are aimed at improving the quality of life of local communities where they are being implemented. They have been assorted endeavours of establishing partnership operation in a number of sub-Saharan countries in recent years. These partnership arrangements are embedded in local regeneration reform initiatives directed at achieving specific goals. They are expected to be designed to involve integrated responsibilities, obligations and requirements over a long-term agreement and are therefore subject to various uncertainties. It becomes imperative to investigate how certain collaboration elements facilitate partnerships working within certain contexts to achieve their intended goals. In this view, explicit attention is given to the collaboration elements; mutual interdependence, trust and transparency and how they facilitate the collaborative process of partnership arrangements in the context of a developing sub-Saharan African country, Nigeria. This investigation is carried out using data collected from semi-structured interviews carried out between March and April 2014 from key officials involved in local regeneration partnership arrangements. Findings indicate that transparency in the tendering process had a direct implication in boosting financiers‘ confidence. Trust among the partners was subject to the negotiated contract as it ensured that the partners adhered to their obligations and the effective management of all stakeholders groups was significant in ensuring the partnership‘s success.