Public-private partnership (PPP) projects must minimise the use of sovereign guarantees, according to Ziad Alexandre Hayek, president of the World Association of PPP Units & Professionals, vice-chairman of the UNECE Working Party and Hayek Associates managing partner.

Speaking at the Mena PPP Virtual Think-Tank on 13 October, Hayek noted that there are better ways to segment project risks than sovereign guarantees, including the use of insurance, which offers a more efficient means to manage risks in projects that utilise long-term financing structures.

He also cited the availability of a $30tn fund for environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG)-compliant projects, which can be tapped for such projects.

The executive urged project stakeholders in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region to stick to their pipeline of PPP projects since the private sector needs to apportion resources and investments.

“More effort must be put into maintaining a [healthy] pipeline of projects,” Hayek said.

The executive cited other factors that tend to hold back greater PPP success, including the tendency to look at PPP as a financing, rather than a development, tool; lack of awareness; and the fear that PPP equates to privatisation.

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