An Assessment of Public-Private-Partnerships in Land Servicing and Housing Delivery: The Case Study of Gaborone, Botswana

Abstract

Botswana, like most countries in the developing world, has been daunted by an ever increasing demand for serviced land and housing in all its towns and cities. The pressure on municipal and central governments to allocate adequate attention and finance to house urban populations, especially the poor has also been rising. As a result, some countries (including Botswana) have developed public-private partnerships seeking to reduce public investments and risks associated with land servicing and provision of housing to the poor. This paper is an attempt to assess the performance of public-private partnerships in land servicing and housing delivery in Botswana taking Gaborone Municipal area as a case study. Data and information presented in this paper are drawn from secondary sources and in-depth interviews with key informants in the private sector, Botswana Housing Corporation, Gaborone City Council and the former Ministry of Lands and Housing. It notes that, contrary to common practices, Botswana has been able to involve private sector firms in land servicing and delivery of projects without explicit contracts. It has instead split delivery processes into phases whereby the government undertakes initial stages and transfers land to private sector firms to complete the process including erection of houses for sale and/or renting. Although the strategy may have relieved land and housing pressure on state resources, it appears to have excluded vulnerable and low income groups that are often target beneficiaries of state sponsored housing programmes. The paper ends with recommendations on how public-private partnerships in Botswana may be improved to achieve better efficiency and inclusiveness.