| Abstract: | Current trends show that most Higher Education Institutions use some form of partnership to sustain
their development projects and programs. Public-Private Partnerships were mostly used in
infrastructural development, student loan facility and provision of goods and services. The
partnerships bring in an element of cost sharing, win-win solutions, joint ventures and guaranteed
development. While the Public-Private Partnerships can be viewed as a tool for sustainable
development, caution should be taken as there is a possibility that some unscrupulous partners may
short change the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). It is the purpose of this study to explore how
HEIs were able to manage the risks involved in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). The objectives
of the study were to find out what challenges HEI‘s had in managing PPP‘s and what strategies they
used in order to overcome the perceived threats to sustainable development. The study utilized indepth
interviews with key informants who were either project managers or project coordinators
from fourteen universities in Zimbabwe. The findings of the study indicated that sustainable
development using PPP‘s was dependent on good governance and constant monitoring of the
project. Most importantly the nature of PPPs relationship was such that HEI‘s would transfer risks
to the private organizations and allow them to recoup the costs in time as in the Build Operate and
Transfer (BOT) partnerships. Also, in cases of service outsourcing, HEIs required to regulate the
parameters of costing and quality so that students or the institution were not taken advantage of.
Some HEIs had partnerships with private financiers who provided students with loans for tuition/
boarding fees. While the loans agreement was between individual students and the financing
organization, HEIs had the moral obligation to ensure that the transactional terms were mutually
beneficial to both parties. A coherent PPP policy to guide and safeguard HEIs, legal framework for
recourse and transparency in partner responsibility matrix were given as critical conditions and
strategies for risk management. Participants agreed that there were explicit and inherent risks in
any partnership. Therefore, HEI‘s would manage their risks by essentially creating a shared vision
and by having a clear understanding of the risks and benefits from the partnership. The study
recommended that HEIs should seek to fully understand their partners, work within a legal
framework and be quick to communicate challenges. These strategies were viewed as enablers for
HEIs to attain sustainable development through PPPs. |
