First published in 2016 and authored by many of the world’s leading PPP experts, the PPP Guide is at the core of the PPP certification program.

In 2026, following a review to update the PPP Guide to reflect ongoing contextual changes and global best practices, the World Bank Group published an updated version of the PPP Guide.

What has changed in the Guide?

Since the PPP Guide and certification program were developed, factors like gender and climate are now more explicitly taken into consideration during the PPP lifecycle. Accordingly, these topics have been incorporated throughout the updated Guide.

New climate considerations include the importance of assessments of increasing challenges and risks, and the need to include sustainable and resilience considerations when planning, procuring and implementing PPP initiatives. Possible impacts to projects are also linked to contingency planning.

Gender concerns have resulted in an increased focus on gender links to infrastructure projects through an emphasis on assessing the needs of vulnerable communities, and the benefits associated with an increased sensitivity to gender considerations.

The Value for Money (VfM) topic has been updated to highlight the need for early-stage assessments, its benefits to improved project selection, and an emphasis on more qualitative approaches. The updated Guide emphasizes that VfM should be considered in broader terms (beyond just fiscal terms) and should be tied to contingency planning.

This refresh has also provided an opportunity to incorporate emerging global best practices from a wider range of countries, including those that are particularly being adopted in emerging markets and developing economies. Additionally, best practice considerations are highlighted in terms of full-lifecycle project planning, procurement and implementation.

Chapter 7 (Strategy, Delivery and Commissioning) and Chapter 8 (Operations and Hand Back) have been merged to avoid unnecessary duplication, and to streamline the approach to contract management, so the refreshed Guide will contain a total of seven chapters.

Finally, the PPP Guide has also been designed to offer a clearer, more user-friendly and professional appearance.

PPP Guide

  • Why has the PPP Guide been updated?

    • The PPP Guide was first published in 2016 and since then, although the steps in the PPP lifecycle have not changed, additional factors, like climate and gender, should be taken into consideration when initiating and delivering a PPP. Therefore, the PPP Guide has been refreshed to include these elements, and to ensure the Guide remains relevant.

  • How can I tell if I am reading the most recent version of the PPP Guide?

    • The first edition of the PPP Guide contains a copyright statement in the footer, dated 2016: © 2016 ADB, EBRD, IDB, IsDB, and WBG.

      The new edition of the PPP Guide contains a copyright statement on the first page dated 2026: © 2026 AfDB, ADB, EBRD, IDB, IsDB, and the World Bank Group.

  • What are the main changes to the 2026 version of the PPP Guide?

      • Factors like gender and climate have been incorporated throughout the Guide.
      • The Value for Money (VfM) topic has been updated to highlight the need for early-stage assessments, its benefits to improved project selection and an emphasis on more qualitative approaches.
      • Chapters 7 and 8 have been merged to avoid unnecessary duplication and to streamline the approach to contract management, so there are only 7 chapters in teh 2026 edition of the PPP Guide.
      • Emerging global best practices from a wider range of countries have been incorporated.

Examinations