St Kitts-Nevis lawyers discuss infrastructure development in Africa and Caribbean

St Kitts-Nevis luminaries from the legal world have been talking about the importance of public-private partnerships for improving infrastructure.

Renowned Canadian-based lawyers Anthony Ross, of Anthony Professional Corporation, and Frank Walwyn of WeirFoulds LLP, were both speaking in the Nigerian capital, Lagos.

They were invited to speak at the country’s annual PUNUKA Attorneys and Solicitors lecture, themed The Role of Public Private Partnership in Infrastructural Development.

They noted that the increasing population in many countries such as Nigeria has led to rising demands, hence the need to move towards creating new capacity through public-private partnership.

According to the pair, there is a global infrastructure deficit, which cannot be met with public funds but requires alternative financing.

The answer to this is engineers working in government, and public owners should avoid costly mistakes and changes which can give rise to unforeseen risk, they believe.

Drawing comparison with experiences in Canada and the Caribbean, Ross said successes recorded in Canada were determined by supportive political environment, sophisticated procurement agencies, stable public-private partnership market and efficient procurement.

In Caribbean countries, he noted that more than US$8.5 billion has been invested in infrastructure assets in last 20 years, with Dominican Republic and Jamaica being the leading destination for investment.