Solomon Olusola Babatunde, Damilola Ekundayo, Chika Udeaja and Uthman Olawande Abubakar
Although several studies have been undertaken on sustainability within infrastructure projects, limited attention has paid to the drivers for, and the barriers to, the…
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 aims to identify and examine the drivers that promote sustainability in Nigerian PPP infrastructure projects and assess 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 analyzed 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 as follows: 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.
Research limitations/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.
Details
Keywords
Solomon Olusola Babatunde, Damilola Ekundayo, Chika Udeaja and Uthman Olawande Abubakar
In the global construction industry, the concept of sustainability is not new, particularly within building projects. Against this backdrop, several studies have been conducted…
Abstract
Purpose
In the global construction industry, the concept of sustainability is not new, particularly within building projects. Against this backdrop, several studies have been conducted, mostly in developed countries, on sustainability in construction projects. However, efforts at investigating sustainability practices in public–private partnership (PPP) infrastructure projects in developing countries have received limited attention. Hence, the purpose of this study is to investigate the incorporation of sustainability practices within the context of Nigeria’s PPP infrastructure projects.
Design/methodology/approach
A questionnaire survey, which targeted four different types of stakeholders, was conducted in this study. These stakeholders included public sector authorities, concessionaires, consultants and banks undertaking PPP infrastructure projects in the Lagos State, Nigeria. The data collected were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean score, standard deviation (SD) analyses and the Kruskal–Wallis test.
Findings
The findings of this study revealed that all the respondents are very much aware of sustainability principles and the vast majority of the respondents from the public sector authorities and the consultant organizations confirmed that they have incorporated sustainability requirements into their bidding documents for PPP infrastructure projects. The study revealed sustainability features in the three aspects of sustainability, namely, economic, environmental and social factors. Furthermore, the study revealed the top three–ranked economic factors of sustainability (considered to be the most important factors) were low maintenance costs, whole life costing and supporting the local economy, respectively. Similarly, the study revealed the top three–ranked environmental factors of sustainability were biodiversity, energy use during the operation stage and energy use during the construction stage, respectively. Furthermore, the study further revealed that the top three–ranked social factors of sustainability were the educational aspect, equity between stakeholders and health and safety, respectively.
Practical implications
The study will be of great value to PPP stakeholders involved in sustainability decision-making processes when delivering sustainable PPP projects, particularly in Nigeria. Also, the study’s findings are important as not many empirical studies have been conducted on the sustainability practices of current PPP projects in Nigeria.
Originality/value
The study’s findings would further inform the need for both the public and private sectors to take a more strategic approach to enhance sustainability in PPP projects.