Olivier Fremond, World Bank Advisor for Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) and World Bank representative in the G20 Investment in Infrastructure Working Group, addressed some 80 private sector representatives at the MEDEF on June 10th, organized by PSLOs for France Philippe Gautier of the MEDEF and Magali Voisin-Ratelle of Business France. His presentation focused on the infrastructure and service gap, the need for greater investments in quality infrastructures, and the World Bank Group’s PPP tools for planning and decision making.

Public-Private Partnerships at the World Bank Group

In recognition of the role of PPPs in improving the quality and delivery of basic services, the World Bank Group has expanded its support over the past decade for infrastructure and basic services through PPPs. The World Bank Group’s support for PPPs builds on the rationale of preparing client countries to oversee most of these services. The institution’s unique value proposition for its client countries rests with its capacity to provide support along the entire PPP cycle, from policy advice to transaction closure. 

Many units of the World Bank Group, with a wide range of expertise, instruments and services, contribute to the PPP agenda — from upstream policy advice for regulatory and institutional reforms to downstream transaction support, which includes a multibillion-dollar lending, investment and guarantee portfolio along with several hundred capacity-building, analytical and advisory activities. 

Over the past 10 years, World Bank Group support to PPPs has increased about threefold. Lending, investments and guarantees have increased both in absolute terms and in relative terms, rising from $900 million in 2002 to $2.9 billion in 2012.

Looking ahead, the World Bank Group intends to intensify its PPP support. (See the latest strategy, A Stronger, Connected, Solutions World Bank Group.) The strategy also creates the framework for many important components of an even more effective PPP agenda, including a strong emphasis on knowledge products and collaboration across the Bank Group — a precondition to working effectively along the PPP delivery chain.