Stakeholder management in public private partnership projects in Nigeria: towards a research agenda

Over the last couple of decades, Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) have been identified as a viable alternative for procuring public infrastructure. PPPs bring together the best of both worlds; private sector managerial expertise and public sector regulatory and supervisory capacity to procure public infrastructure. While several PPP projects have been delivered successfully, others have experienced challenges such as stakeholders' opposition. PPP projects are by their nature complex involving multiple stakeholders and thus far, there is a lack of adequate and well-structured means of managing these stakeholders and their varied interests which has resulted in neglect of stakeholders. Neglect of interest of stakeholders has been identified as a major factor that undermines the success of PPP projects in Nigeria. To this end, managing stakeholders in PPP projects in Nigeria has become necessary owing to the fact that support for PPP projects by the general public and transparency in the PPP process are enhanced when end users, local communities and other stakeholders are involved in all phases of the PPP scheme. This paper reviews literature on stakeholder management and concludes that existing frameworks do not provide adequate guidance on how stakeholders in PPP projects should be managed from project conception to operation and maintenance. Some of the main flaws identified with existing frameworks are their lack of attention to multiple parties involved in PPP projects and the inadequacy of stakeholder identification process. This paper thus identifies the gaps in existing stakeholder management frameworks and makes a case for developing a framework for managing stakeholders in PPP projects which would be all inclusive, transparent and that gives end users, local communities and other stakeholders their rightful place as co-owners of the project. This will enhance public support for PPPs and attract private sector investment in infrastructure in Nigeria.