When public opinion collides with state-backed investment deals, the outcome is not rejection by default, but scrutiny, verification and, in some cases, recalibration.
That is the message from David Zacharia Kafulila, Executive Director of Tanzania’s Public-Private Partnership Centre (PPPC), who used a recent television interview to outline how citizen voices are shaping the country’s growing portfolio of public-private partnerships (PPPs).
Speaking on Dakika 45, a widely watched current affairs programme, Kafulila framed public participation not as a threat to investment, but as a critical layer of due diligence in government contracting.
“Citizen feedback is healthy,” he said, arguing that governments act on behalf of their people and must therefore listen especially to critics. In Tanzania’s PPP framework, public opinion is formally embedded in the process of identifying, negotiating and finalising major contracts.
This participation, he explained, serves two purposes. First, it helps the government better understand its potential partners part of what he described as “due diligence.”
Second, it provides additional information about proposed agreements, including risks or concerns that may not have surfaced internally.
Yet public opposition does not automatically halt a deal. Instead, it triggers verification.
Authorities, Kafulila said, must interrogate both the investor and the claims circulating in public discourse. Some concerns may prove valid, leading to adjustments in contract terms.
Others may turn out to be “hearsay” unverified or emotionally driven narratives that require clarification rather than policy reversal.
“The role of government is to establish the truth,” he noted, adding that transparency in addressing public concerns ultimately strengthens decision-making and legitimacy.
Security concerns and “sensitive assets”
Public anxiety tends to intensify when PPPs touch strategic infrastructure such as ports and airports sectors often linked to sovereignty and national security.
Kafulila dismissed claims that Tanzania has privatized an airport under PPP arrangements, stating no such deal exists or has been proposed through official channels.
However, he acknowledged that private participation in airport management is globally common and potentially beneficial.
He cited international data showing that roughly 14 percent of airports worldwide are privately operated under PPP structures, handling about 40 percent of global passenger traffic. The implication: efficiency gains, not loss of control, often drive such models.
Crucially, he emphasized that PPPs do not dilute state authority over security. Even when private investors operate infrastructure, national security agencies including immigration, police and intelligence services retain full jurisdiction.
Any investor attempting to restrict these functions would be in breach of contract and risk termination, he said.
“The government cannot compromise on security,” Kafulila stressed. “If an investor resists, the agreement ends.”
The trillion-dollar ambition
Beyond individual contracts, Tanzania’s PPP strategy is tied to a broader economic vision: achieving a $1 trillion economy within 25 years under the national development blueprint.
The goal would place Tanzania among a small group of fewer than 20 economies globally that have crossed the trillion-dollar threshold.
Kafulila acknowledged the scale of the ambition, noting that no African country has yet reached even half that size. South Africa, the continent’s largest economy, remains below $500 billion.
But he argued that development trajectories differ across countries and eras. The key, he said, is a shared national vision supported by structural change.
Drawing on ideas from Adam Smith, whose work on the “wealth of nations” explores why countries prosper or remain poor, Kafulila emphasized that economic transformation begins with mindset and long-term planning.
“This is not just a government agenda it is a national decision,” he said.
Private sector as growth engine
Central to that vision is a significant shift in investment dynamics. The government expects the private sector to contribute roughly 70 percent of total investment required to achieve its targets.
That shift reflects fiscal realities. Large-scale infrastructure such as hydropower, roads and water systems—demands capital levels that governments alone cannot sustain.
PPPs, therefore, are positioned as both a financing tool and a mechanism for improving efficiency. In some cases, Kafulila noted, the primary objective is not capital inflow but better management to reduce losses and increase productivity.
The model also allows government to reallocate resources toward sectors where private incentives are weaker, such as health and education areas critical to long-term human capital development.
With Tanzania’s population growing at about 3 percent annually well above the global average the pressure to expand social services is intensifying.
Without private sector participation in commercially viable sectors, the fiscal burden would become unsustainable.
From dormant law to active deals
Although Tanzania enacted its PPP law in 2010, Kafulila said it remained largely inactive for more than a decade. Implementation only gained traction in 2023, marking a turning point in how projects are structured and financed.
Since then, PPP agreements worth more than 8.5 trillion Tanzanian shillings have been signed, spanning sectors from transport to logistics.
Some projects are highly visible such as bus transport systems and logistics hubs while others operate behind the scenes, including port efficiency improvements that have increased cargo throughput and triggered demand for inland container depots.
Cross-border projects are also emerging, including a recently signed $1.4 billion agreement linked to regional rail infrastructure.
At a smaller scale, PPPs are reshaping urban commercial spaces, with redevelopment projects generating higher revenues, business activity and employment compared to their pre-partnership state.
PPPs versus privatization
A recurring misconception, Kafulila argued, is that PPPs amount to privatization.
They do not.
Under privatization, ownership of public assets is transferred to private entities. In PPPs, ownership remains with the state before, during and after the partnership. What changes is the allocation of responsibilities and risks.
“PPP is about risk-sharing,” he said, likening it to a long-term contract where both parties contribute and benefit under agreed terms.
That distinction is critical in managing public perception especially in a country where past experiences with privatization have shaped skepticism.
A cautious optimism
Despite lingering concerns and occasional resistance, Kafulila expressed confidence in the trajectory.
Public scrutiny, he suggested, should not be feared but harnessed. When properly managed, it strengthens contracts, improves outcomes and builds trust.
As Tanzania prepares its next budget cycle aligned with its long-term vision, PPPs are expected to play an even larger role.
“The future is promising,” he said.
