Abstract
A considerable number of people considered to be living in extreme poverty are located in sub-Saharan
Africa. To eradicate extreme poverty, it is imperative that investment in infrastructural development –
such as transportation projects - is encouraged in countries hit the hardest by poverty as infrastructural
development plays a key role in reducing extreme poverty and driving sustainable economic growth.
Although investment in infrastructure has increased significantly over the past two decades, concern
abounds regarding the performance of some transportation projects. Several factors such as ineffective
procurement processes have been identified as factors that lead to poor transportation project
performance in several countries. Moving to more innovative procurement and financing practices such
as Public-Private Partnership (PPP) could spur economic growth. Due to its unique integrative risk
sharing platform, PPP is considered an effective project delivery strategy that could drive infrastructural
development. Nevertheless, barriers to the wide adoption of PPP on transportation infrastructure exist.
To improve the success rate, it is vital that critical success factors (CSF) are identified. No prior study
succinctly summarized the CSF needed for successful implementation of PPP on transportation
infrastructure projects in emerging markets. Using an integrative literature review process, 24 CSFs
were identified. Thorough and realistic cost/benefit assessment, social support, transportation
infrastructure meets a need, political support, and technical feasibility of project was considered the
most important CSF based on appearance frequency. Subsequently, three case studies were examined
to ascertain the applicability of the CSF within the context of a developing country. Results indicate
that the top 8 ranked CSF were identified in the three case studies. This indicates the presence of some
similarity between the CSFs for implementing PPP on transportation infrastructure in developed and
developing countries. The study recommends the development of adaptable frameworks that would
improve the future implementation of PPP on transportation projects in developing countries.