The Sunday Mail
Tino Kambasha
THE Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) houses the Public Private Partnership (PPPs) unit, formerly a department that existed as the Joint Venture Unit in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
This department is tasked with processing all public private partnership projects.
The existence of strong legal, regulatory and institutional framework provides a clear, transparent process for the procurement and delivery of PPPs in the country.
The PPP unit’s key role is to contribute to the attainment of economic development and growth through facilitating the roll out of strategic projects.
The unit ensures that the nation accrues maximum benefit from PPPs by evaluating projects’ affordability, optimum transfer of skills and technology, operational and financial risks, social-economic and environmental benefits.
Partnership between Government and private players is formalised by a PPP agreement which specifies deliverables and time-lines from both parties.
Because all PPP projects involve a partnerships incorporating Government assets, they are eventually approved by Cabinet through a special PPP committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.
Before the projects are presented to Cabinet, ZIDA would have evaluated them through undertaking comprehensive due diligence analysis, findings from which are presented to the PPP committee.
Public private partnership projects can be either solicited or unsolicited.
A solicited proposal is one where the Government asks for participants to bid for a project that it would have chosen, whereas an unsolicited proposal is one where an investor/contractor approaches Government with a project proposal.
Solicited proposals include those projects which are being developed under Government’s development agenda, guided by the National Development Strategy (NDS1) 2021-2025.
Procedures for solicited proposals entail:
(i) The contracting authority identifies a project to be implemented as a PPP;
(ii) The contracting authority develops a pre-feasibility study for the project;
(iii) It then submits the proposal to the PPP unit for evaluation; and
(iv) invite expressions of interest by means of a public advertisement in the print, electronic or broadcast media or in any other transparent manner;
(v) undertake or cause to be undertaken a feasibility study;
(vi) submit the feasibility study to the unit for approval; and
(vii) where the unit approves the feasibility study, prepare a request for the project proposal and a model agreement on the basis of the approved feasibility study;
(viii) The unit shall refer the project proposal to the Cabinet committee which shall make recommendations thereon to the Cabinet for determination.
On the other hand, unsolicited proposals are prepared or made without the invitation, solicitation, supervision or request.
Procedures for unsolicited proposal entail the following:
(i) The unsolicited bidder develops the project concept;
(ii) The bidder then approaches the contracting authority who, if agreeable to the proposal, should approach ZIDA with the proposal;
(iii) Once the unit receives the unsolicited bid or expression of interest it shall consult with the relevant contracting authority for a preliminary assessment, within a period of fourteen days, as to whether the PPP of the type proposed is acceptable or not;
(iv) If considered acceptable, the unit shall seek the approval of the Committee for the contracting authority to conduct a feasibility study at the cost of the unsolicited bidder;
(v) If however, after assessment and consultation, it is determined that the PPP is unacceptable, the unit shall advise the unsolicited bidder and contracting authority accordingly.
Powers of ZIDA in relation to PPPs as stipulated by the ZIDA Act:
The Agency may:
(a) retain consultants to assist it on an ad hoc, part-time or full-time basis;
(b) request the chairperson, accounting officer or chief executive officer of a contracting authority — (i) to furnish any information or produce any records or other documents relating to a project; (ii) to answer all questions relating to a project;
(c) examine such records or other documents as are availed to it and make copies thereof or take extracts therefrom.
Any person to whom a reasonable request is made under subsection (1)(b) or (c) who (a) without just cause, fails to comply with the request; or (b) refuses without just cause to answer or wilfully gives any false or misleading answer to any question lawfully put by the agency or by any employee or agent of the agency; shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 8 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.
Tino Kambasha is ZIDA’s chief investments and corporate affairs officer
