Private Participation in Infrastructure

Drawing on data from the World Bank's Private Participation in Infrastructure (PPI) database, this new book provides an overview of the nearly 2500 private infrastructure projects that were implemented between the period 1990-2001 in 132 developing countries and mobilized investment of some USD754 billion. It covers projects in the transport, energy (electricity and gas), telecoms, and water and sewerage sectors that received private investment through management and lease contracts, concessions, greenfield projects, or divestitures. Overall, the trend in PPI illustrates a dramatic increase in investment flows between 1990-1997 as governments around the world turned to the private sector for innovative and cost-effective solutions to increasing coverage, raising quality standards, and aiming for cost recovery and sustainability in infrastructure service provision.
However, since the economic crises of the late 1990s, a few (but high-profile) cases of canceled projects, visible corporate governance and accounting problems, and a general global economic slowdown led to a chilling effect on investors and resulted in declines in investment so that 2001 levels paralleled that of the mid-1990s.