Assessing the financial feasibility of availability payment PPP projects

Abstract

Over the last couple of decades there has been an increased contribution of the private sector to finance infrastructure projects. However, in view of the current global financial crisis, it has become more difficult for governments, particularly in transition and developing economies, to attract private financing for infrastructure, which may affect negatively the capacity of many countries to expand, and even keep up their infrastructure. While this is an observed short-term phenomenon, it is still not clear what will be the medium to long term effect of the crisis. It may well be that governments may be willing to increase their financial support to infrastructure projects so as to make them more attractive to potential private investors. This paper focuses on availability payment (AP), which has been increasingly used to undertake critical infrastructure projects in both developing and developed countries. It presents the development of a user-friendly tool for financial assessments of availability payment PPP projects. The model is suitable for preliminary assessment and screening of potential PPP projects. The applicability of the tool is demonstrated through a numerical example of a potential road PPP project. The model can also be applied to any other mode of transport or infrastructure. The model can be used to carry out sensitivity analyses. The user can change the value of an input parameter (e.g., construction cost) and obtain the resulting impact, for example, on the project financial internal rate of return.