The transition from unsolicited to solicited PPP proposals in BRICS economies

BRICS is a term used to describe the countries of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa. These countries are emergent economies that have in common large populations, extensive resources, and strong economic growth that is expected to see them ultimately take up equal positions among the world's developed nations. The driver of this growth is major infrastructure and capital investment, and in order to finance this investment, public-private-partnerships (PPPs) are commonly employed. PPPs may be solicited by governments, as part of their development strategy, or unsolicited, with investors looking for opportunistic returns. Both approaches carry significant developmental implications, and tracking the degree to which each approach is favoured, provides an indicator of how well an economy is travelling. Data on BRICS PPP solicitation was extracted from the World Bank PPP project database and the analysis was done using data mining. Results reveal that for the five BRICS countries, as a whole, up until the year 2000, proposals were predominantly solicited at a national level. However, from 2001 to 2009, proposals were exclusively unsolicited. From 2010 onwards, proposals reverted to being solicited, but this time at local, state, as well as national levels. Notwithstanding the extensive debate on the current strength of development among BRICS nations, this observation is positive, and adds weight to the view that BRICS economies are evolving healthily.