PPP investment has shown a steady growth in many countries worldwide; the graph below shows an example from low and middle income countries where growth was steady until about 2011. The combined effect of falls in the price of oil and other natural resources, as well as the knock-on effects of the credit crunch (loss of liquidity) brought on by the global financial crisis may have slowed progress somewhat.

In the UK, about 750 PPP projects were signed over this period, and many other developed countries adopted a similar model and also have impressive tallies of projects. Some countries, such as the US, have come later to the game as different financing structures such as municipal bonds have been an option instead of external financing. Nevertheless, it is clear that in the US market a large infrastructure deficit exists, so PPP is increasingly being seen as an answer to increase the pace of delivery.

The diagram below illustrates the growth of private investment in Africa specifically. These
figures from 2015 show where the majority of private investment has been directed in the
region, and it is not surprising to see that telecoms had the highest investment given the rapid
expansion of mobile telephony in Africa and a rapid growth of telecom towers and undersea
cables provided by private initiatives.

PPP is still a relatively small component when it comes to private investments in infrastructure in
Africa as is demonstrated in the diagram below:
(a) Energy infrastructure forms the next highest level of investment. This can be seen
as a form of PPP, in so far as the government promotes private investment by
guaranteeing an offtake of generated power.
(b) Outside of energy, ports represent the next-largest investment sector – this is
perhaps not surprising given the increasing desire for manufactured goods and
container traffic as economies improve and increasing middle class populations
drive demand.
(c) However, the number of financially closed projects in the non-energy infrastructure
space remains low. One recent World Bank study from 2017 concluded that only
14 PPP projects had reached financial close in the preceding five years in Africa
with a total investment of $8bn. Another study put the success rate of projects in
Africa – from publication of concept to financial close – at a mere 8%.