Like others in the series of reviews aimed at improving the environment for private sector involvement in infrastructure in various countries, the government requested the report. It describes and assess the current status and performance of key infrastructure sectors and the policy, regulatory, and institutional environment for involving the private sector; and assists policymakers in framing future reform and development to assist potential investors. There is no index. Annotation : 2005 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com).
This publication is one of a series of country reviews aimed at improving the environment for private investment in key infrastructure sectors. It gives an objective assessment of the condition of Rwandas core economic infrastructure and associated institutional and policy frameworks, as well as examining reform opportunities to encourage private sector involvement. Chapters review the following sectors: transport, energy, water and sanitation, electricity and telecommunications, as well as considering a number of cross-cutting issues including institutional capacity, regulation, the legal system, taxation and environmental issues.
"After the conflict ended in Angola, the country was faced with development challenges in economic and social conditions. The Government needed direction and reforms to encourage private sector participation to meet Angola's vast infrastructure needs in electricity and gas, water and sanitation, transport, and telecommunications. Private Solutions for Infrastructure in Angola provides an objective assessment of Angola's general environment for private sector participation in infrastructure. The main purpose of the book is to assist the Government of Angola in developing policies and a framework for the promotion of private participation in the rebuilding and development of the country's infrastructure. This book focuses on maximizing the role and contribution of the private sector in infrastructure and it analyzes and documents the barriers, opportunities, and measures to promote private participation in infrastructure over the period 2005-2020. The book also provides a summary of the action plan of the short, medium, and long-term steps to facilitate private sector participation."
Cities and city regions are undergoing rapid transformation. They are prime locations of innovation, while at the same time facing growing problems of spatial fragmentation and social exclusion. By addressing these problems, cities become forerunners for new patterns of governance, which include increasingly private actors. While research on 'global' cities has focused primarily on the world's leading financial and economic centres, comparative research on the changing role of large, complex cities in the developing world is less advanced. But it is here, where public problems are most seriously threatening the cohesion of urban society and where the need for new answers is most urgent. Illustrated by in-depth examinations of four city regions: Shanghai, Mumbai, Johannesburg and São Paulo, this book readdresses this balance. The book revisits the same set of cities from different angles, thereby reflecting urban contradictions, juxtapositions, and disjunctures.
World Development Report 1994 examines the link between infrastructure and development and explores ways in which developing countries can improve both the provision and the quality of infrastructure services. In recent decades, developing countries have made substantial investments in infrastructure, achieving dramatic gains for households and producers by expanding their access to services such as safe water, sanitation, electric power, telecommunications, and transport. Even more infrastructure investment and expansion are needed in order to extend the reach of services - especially to people living in rural areas and to the poor. But as this report shows, the quantity of investment cannot be the exclusive focus of policy. Improving the quality of infrastructure service also is vital. Both quantity and quality improvements are essential to modernize and diversify production, help countries compete internationally, and accommodate rapid urbanization. The report identifies the basic cause of poor past performance as inadequate institutional incentives for improving the provision of infrastructure. To promote more efficient and responsive service delivery, incentives need to be changed through commercial management, competition, and user involvement. Several trends are helping to improve the performance of infrastructure. First, innovation in technology and in the regulatory management of markets makes more diversity possible in the supply of services. Second, an evaluation of the role of government is leading to a shift from direct government provision of services to increasing private sector provision and recent experience in many countries with public-private partnerships is highlighting new ways to increase efficiency and expand services. Third, increased concern about social and environmental sustainability has heightened public interest in infrastructure design and performance.
Why is the private sector yet to take off in much sub-Saharan Africa? Drawing on a unique set of enterprise surveys, Vijaya Ramachandran and her co-authors identify the biggest obstacles: inadequate infrastructure (especially unreliable electricity and crumbing roads) and burdensome regulation. They then show how ethnic minorities dominate the private sector in many countries, inhibiting competition and demands for a better business environment, and thus impeding the emergence of an entrepreneurial middle class. Based on this careful diagnosis, the authors suggest investing in infrastructure and reforming regulation to lower the cost of doing business, and increasing the access to education of a broader-based business class that crosses ethnic divides. Book jacket.
This innovative book addresses the links between sustainability and human rights in the context of infrastructure projects and uncovers the human rights gap in every stage of public procurement processes to deliver on infrastructure assets or services.
