The Foundation level training, aimed at candidates from public sector institutions in Lesotho, was delivered in Maseru by Training Byte Size, an accredited training provider. Candidates from ministries and municipalities with a mixed skill set and experience level in delivering PPPs attended the course. Due to the various levels of understanding of the topic, the course is structured in such way that provided sufficient detail and understanding for the beginner level and also served as a refresher course for the candidates that have been involved in the PPP market for some time.
The training sessions were promoted in an interactive environment which included presentations and references to real PPP projects from across the world as well as exam simulations. The debates and discussions were very engaging as the local market already had an example of the PPP project running in Lesotho. Mixed skill sets allowed for various discussion topics including legal PPP framework in Lesotho, financial instruments used and the role of the public sector pre, during and post signature of the PPP agreement.
Contract management was one of the big topics discussed as many candidates acknowledged that the Value for Money is derived during the service period where monitoring of the delivery of services are closely related to the monetary value of the project.
Serah Njere Njoroge from World Bank Group said, “PPPs and private financing have the potential to increase access to infrastructure in Africa. PPIAF is currently supporting the government of Lesotho in the development of the PPP framework and building much needed capacity for PPP implementation. In June 2017, with support from PPIAF 20 government officials in Maseru, Lesotho were offered the PPP certification training. Participants were drawn from various ministries including Finance, Health, Works, Development Planning and Energy”.
The training has received very positive feedback from the candidates who also concluded that one of the big success factors was preparation before the course by reading through the available material and the guide published on the APMG site. As a stepping stone towards becoming a Certified PPP Professional (CP3P), the candidates successfully undertook Foundation exam at the end of the course.
Credits : Written by Irina Unkovski
Irina is a qualified Quantity Surveyor and holds a Master’s Degree in Building specializing in various Infrastructure Procurement Methods. She has more than 15 years of experience working with both Public and Private sector on various Infrastructure initiatives. Currently, Irina is with Deloitte South Africa, leading Corporate Finance Infrastructure Capital Project Team.
Irina is a qualified Quantity Surveyor and holds a Master’s Degree in Building specializing in various Infrastructure Procurement Methods. She has more than 15 years of experience working with both Public and Private sector on various Infrastructure initiatives. Currently, Irina is with Deloitte South Africa, leading Corporate Finance Infrastructure Capital Project Team.
Irina has completed various consulting assignments mostly at National and Provincial Government levels specifically development of infrastructure on PPPs within transport, healthcare and commercial buildings. As a result she is familiar with various vehicles, which could be used in alternative service delivery, be it by National, Provincial or Local Government.
Currently, Irina is developing a methodology for Project Management of existing and operating PPPs which will assist government officials in successful delivery, as well as provide a tool for managing the PPP inception for both Transaction Advisors and government officials. She has been involved in projects of monitoring nature such as Gautrain, as well as assisting clients in the public sector with monitoring and assurance of the adjudication of tenders over R 30bn in value.