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Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Public-Private Partnerships

1. What is a public-private partnership?
2. What is a Global Development Alliance?
3. What does leveraging mean?

Question 1:

What is a public-private partnership?

Answer:

A public-private partnership (PPP) is collaboration between a public entity, like USAID, and a private one, like a commercial company or grant-making foundation. The partners agree to work together on a specific activity, often formalized through a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). Such a partnership helps to further development objectives with additional support of private resources; be it through cash, services, or equipment. The relationship between or among partners in a PPP may range from very little interaction where a matching grant may be adopted to a fully collaborative engagement where the parties are involved jointly in every stage from design to implementation to assessment.

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Question 2:

What is a Global Development Alliance?

Answer:

The Global Development Alliance (GDA) is an innovative public-private alliance model for improving social and economic conditions in developing countries. The GDA combines the assets and experience of strategic partners, leveraging their capital and investments, creativity and access to markets to solve complex problems facing government, business, and communities. This approach to partnership relies on the overlapping interests of the U.S. Government's strategic objectives for foreign assistance and the core business goals of industry.

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Question 3:

What does leveraging mean?

Answer:

Partners leverage one another's assets to produce an outcome that is equal to or greater than the sum of its parts. Public-private partnerships generally match financial resources, provide in-kind contributions, and share knowledge. Assets leveraged through GDA are deeply linked to harnessing the complementary resources of expertise, networks, and innovation toward a strategic end. The concept of leverage can be viewed literally as a series of levers that cumulatively increase progress to an end goal.

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