Stakeholder perceptions of drivers for, and barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria

Babatunde, S; Ekundayo, DO; Udeaja, CE; Abubakar, U

Abstract

Purpose - Although several studies have been undertaken on sustainability within infrastructure projects, limited attention has paid to the drivers for, and the barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in public-private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects through empirical study, particularly in Nigeria. Therefore, this study identified and examined the drivers that promote sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects, and assessed the barriers to the full integration of sustainability practices into current Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects.

Design/methodology/approach – Primary data were collected using a questionnaire survey. The questionnaire survey was targeted on four different stakeholders’ organizations. They were public sector authorities, concessionaires, consultants, and banks already undertaking PPP infrastructure projects in Lagos State, Nigeria. The obtained data were analysed using frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation, and the Kruskal-Wallis test.

Findings – The study identified 17 drivers that promote the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects. The analysis of the total ranking of the drivers in Nigeria revealed the top five ranked drivers to be: consideration of long-term performance; contractual arrangements; incentives for new market penetration; award criteria, and selection criteria, respectively. The study further identified 11 barriers to sustainability integration in PPP infrastructure projects and the top five ranked barriers in Nigeria are: comprehensive sustainability procurement guidelines; no enabling environment; education needs; uncertain economic environment, and a lack of clear government policy, respectively. The results of the Kruskal-Wallis test conducted on both the 17 identified drivers for, and the 11 barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects, revealed that there is no significant statistical difference in both rankings from the perceptions of the aforementioned four different respondents’ groups.

Practical implications – The study provides empirical insights on the knowledge and awareness of drivers which could lead to a greater uptake in sustainability measures by the stakeholders in
Nigerian PPP projects; it also identified barriers to overcome.

Originality/value – The importance of the incorporation of sustainability in public procurement cannot be over-emphasized. It is anticipated that the study will be of great value to PPP stakeholders involved in sustainability decision-making processes when delivering sustainable PPP projects.

Citation

Babatunde, S., Ekundayo, D., Udeaja, C., & Abubakar, U. (2020). Stakeholder perceptions of drivers for, and barriers to, the incorporation of sustainability in PPP infrastructure projects in Nigeria. Open House International, 45(4), 373-386. https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-05-2020-0037

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 20, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Aug 31, 2020
• Publication Date: Aug 31, 2020
• Deposit Date: Jul 20, 2020
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 2, 2020
• Journal: Open House International
• Print ISSN: 0168-2601
• Publisher: Open House International Association
• Volume: 45
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 373-386
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-05-2020-0037
• Publisher URL: https://doi.org/10.1108/OHI-05-2020-0037
• Related Public URLs: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/ohi
• Additional Information: Access Information : This author accepted manuscript is deposited under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC) licence. This means that anyone may distribute, adapt, and build upon the work for non-commercial purposes, subject to full attribution. If you wish to use this manuscript for commercial purposes, please contact [e-mail]