Procuring and Financing Airport Infrastructure Development in the developing world: China Debt or Public Private Partnerships? Case Study of Entebbe International Airport

Abstract

Airports are an important asset for any country that seeks to develop or sustain development. Procuring and financing infrastructure has remained challenging. Budgetary allocations to airports are inadequate while Western financier appetite for developing world is
declining as needs for procuring and financing infrastructure increase. China has exploited the gap by providing pre non-conditional debt. Existing studies indicate that China debt is easy to access but exiting has come with terrible consequences as post debt conditionalities risk the sovereignty of borrowers. Based on a peer reviewed literature, and documents and with a lens of events at Entebbe international Airport we find that post debt conditionalities are terrible and thus explore and analyze both China debt and the option of public private partnerships. The outcome of this study indicates that public private partnerships (PPP) are a better option than China debt for procuring and financing airport infrastructure. The paper contributes to the PPP body of knowledge by not only providing a comparative analysis of China debt and PPPs as a procurement and financing option but provides for consideration necessary for the uptake of PPPs as a tool in rehabilitating and enhancing airport infrastructure in the developing world. By providing this wisdom, we support policy makers to develop national assets while not risking the loss of their sovereignty, a feature that is associated with China debt.