Rise in PPPs reflects Saudi budgetary pragmatism

Private sector’s appetite to take on a portion of the state’s financing burden grows

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The value of public-private partnership (PPP) contracts in Saudi Arabia has risen sharply over the past two years as the government seeks to develop projects through the private sector and diversify funding sources.

According to MEED Projects data, in 2023, the value of PPP concession contracts hit an all-time high of $28.2bn, equivalent to more than 23%?of the total value of all project contracts awarded that year. Although that figure fell to 18.3%?last year, it was still far higher than the historical average in the kingdom.

The figures are even starker when taking only government spending into account. In 2023, the value of signed PPP contracts totalled more than a third of the value of government or government-related projects awarded in 2023 and more than a quarter last year. This is compared to the average of 15.6%?between 2019 and 2022, and just?3.5%?recorded in 2018.?

Government contracts include awards made by ministries, municipalities and royal commissions, in addition to state-funded key project clients such as Saudi Water Authority, the National Housing Company?and Jeddah Airports Company. Public Investment Fund (PIF) subsidiaries such as?Neom, the National Water Company and Rua Al-Madinah are also included.

Reducing spending

The government increasingly views the development of projects through the PPP framework as a means of delivering strategic schemes like?power and desalination plants off-balance sheet using private sector funding, thereby reducing its capital expenditure requirements.?

This has been particularly important as Riyadh’s financing commitments for its gigaprojects and infrastructure programmes have soared in line with its Saudi 2030 Vision.?New contract awards overall in the kingdom reached $149bn, the highest ever recorded by a single country in the region and one of the largest globally.

Beyond utilities

PPPs have been used in Saudi Arabia and the wider GCC region for over two decades, but have been mainly limited to power generation and water desalination plants, where the developer benefits from guaranteed take-or-pay power-purchase agreements that eliminate demand risk.

However, over the past three years, the government has successfully implemented PPPs in a number of new sectors, including education and healthcare, to finance, build and operate schools and hospitals. Forthcoming PPP projects include the estimated $2.5bn Asir-Jizan highway, which would be the first road concession in the GCC, and the multibillion-dollar contract to develop the expansion of Abha International airport.

"The NCP is expected to add dozens more PPPs to its future pipeline to relieve the state’s financial burden and to stimulate the private sector’s involvement in the local projects market?

Outside the utilities sector, the body responsible for pushing the PPP agenda is the National Centre for Privatisation (NCP). It has more than 170 PPPs in the pipeline, covering long-term concession agreements in projects as diverse as municipal laboratories, television and radio tower infrastructure, court complexes?and logistics zones.

As capital expenditure continues to increase, the NCP is expected to add dozens more PPPs to its future pipeline to relieve the state’s financial burden and to stimulate the private sector’s involvement in the local projects market.

Gigaproject delivery

The gigaproject development companies will likely follow a similar path. Off-grid developers Neom?and Red Sea Global have both signed utilities concessions with the private sector for their power, desalination, water treatment and district cooling requirements, with the former also contracting companies to build and operate labour accommodation.

Going forward, other PIF developer subsidiaries like New Murabba Development Company (NMDC), Diriyah Company, Roshn?Group?and King Salman International Airport Development Company are attempting to harness the private sector for a number of their project components.?

NMDC, for example, will seek companies over the next five years to finance and operate its water treatment, power, district cooling, waste collection, telecommunication, secondary roads, street lighting, social infrastructure?and EV charging infrastructure requirements under its partnership strategy.?

The use of PPP contractual frameworks will be critical to ensure delivery of the gigaprojects as soaring construction costs have resulted in delays to the programme and put a strain on the PIF and government’s finances.?

Growing?appetite

Power and water production schemes aside, it remains to be seen whether the private sector and banks will have the appetite to take on the investment risk these projects will entail, especially if they do not come with government guarantees, explicit or otherwise.

However, the experience to date suggests that there is a big appetite in the private sector – at least locally – to take on an expanded role in absorbing?some of the state’s financing burden. Whether this will remain the case as the PPP pipeline continues to grow will be key to Saudi Arabia’s project and 2030 Vision ambitions.