A Public-Private Partnership (PPP) is essentially a government service of private business venture that is funded and operated through the joint efforts of government and one or more private sector entities, and implemented mainly by the private sector partner(s).

In the Namibian context, this can be stated as: A PPP is a co-financed (public-private) project that produces tangible commercial benefits for the private partner(s) and at the same time developmental benefits for Namibia.

In terms of defining who bears the financial, technical and operational risks for the project, PPPs may be structured in various ways. In some cases, the private sector will bear all the risk, while in others, “the cost of using the service is borne exclusively by the users of the service and not by the taxpayer.

In other types, capital investment is made by the private sector on the basis of a contract with government to provide agreed services and the cost of providing the service is borne wholly or in part by the government.”

Further, government contributions to a PPP may be in kind (notably the transfer of existing assets), the government might provide a capital subsidy in the form of a one-time grant to attract private investors, or the government may support the project by providing revenue subsidies