Executive Insight Booz and Co

Public–private partnerships (PPPs) have helped many countries in the Middle East modernize their highways, upgrade their communications infrastructure and build new power plants. But such partnership models have proven less effective for governments seeking to outsource certain services, such as health care. Handing over such services to the private sector requires a greater level of collaboration and trust between governments and their partners than straightforward infrastructural works. Creating an electronic payments system, for instance, goes to the heart of what government does and affects its everyday transactions in a way that the construction of a sewage plant does not. To better manage such services, the Egyptian government is developing a new approach to partnership called ‘joint ownership’, which could be broadly applicable throughout the region. This approach transforms the way in which public services projects are structured and offers opportunities for private sector entities around the world to capitalize on