Public–Private Partnership Risks in Conflict Zones and Solutions: Case Study for Afghanistan

Abstract

Insufficient studies on public–private partnership (PPP) risks in conflict zones, and thus lack of knowledge to provide effective and feasible solutions to these risks, are the major reasons for the failure of PPP infrastructure projects in these areas, especially in Afghanistan. This research aims to identify appropriate responses to PPP risks in these projects and prioritize the implementation of risk responses. To achieve this goal, experts were requested to provide strategies to mitigate 23 PPP risks and suggest the time required to implement them. Finally, the applicability of mitigation measures was investigated by prioritizing them based on the scores obtained from the product of three factors, namely the importance of each risk and the solution’s feasibility and effectiveness. Although the most critical risk was determined to be the impossibility of providing physical security, the most applicable solution was related to the government’s insufficient commitment to carry out its obligations. The identified risks are common among conflict states, but this research focused on Afghanistan. However, the introduced solutions can be employed as a new collection for the risk response development in countries with conditions similar to Afghanistan. Furthermore, the findings can expand the use of PPP and improve the risk distribution in such projects.