1. This Act may be cited as the Public-Private Partnership Act, Short title 2009, and shall come into operation on such date as the Minister and may, by statutory instrument, appoint. commen cement Application 2. This Act applies to infrastructure projects and facilities, and the provision of social sector services as may be prescribed by the Minister, implemented through the Public-Private Partnership Unit, but does not apply to the following infrastructure projects or infrastructure facilities: (a) projects which are undertaken by any joint venture between any statutory body, Government Ministr)' or department, statutory body or local authority; (b) projects between any statutory body and any Government Ministry or department; (c) projects which may be taken over by any concessionaire or private sector entity on privatisation or dis-investment by any Government Ministry, department, statutory body, State corporation, local authority or agency; or (d) projects which have been expressly excluded from the provisions of this Act or which are not prescribed by the Minister. Interpretation 3. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires— “affordable” in relation to an agreement, means a contractual arrangement where a contracting authority is able to meet any financial commitment likely to be incurred under the agreement from its existing or future budgetary funds; “agreement” means a public-private partnership agreement entered into in accordance with this Act which may incorporate any approvals, licences, permits and authorisations necessary for its implementation; “asset” includes an existing asset of a relevant contracting o authority or a new asset to be acquired for the purposes of entering into an agreement; o “bid” means a tender, an offer, a proposal or price quotation, given in response to an invitation to participate in an infrastructure facility or infrastructure project; “bidder” means any person, including a group of persons, that participates in selection proceedings relating to a project; “bidding documents” means the tender solicitation documents or other documents for solicitation of bids, on the basis of which bidders are to prepare their bids; “bidding consortium” means a situation where a proposal for an infrastructure project or infrastructure facility is made by more than one person, and "bidding consortia” shall be construed accordingly; “concessionaire” means a person from the private sector who undertakes an infrastructure project or infrastructure facility or the provision ofany social sector services under a public private partnership agreement, other than a contracting authority; “contracting authority” means the public authority that has the power to enter into an agreement for the implementation of an infrastructure project or infrastructure facility or the provision of any social sector services under any law, and includes any Ministry, Government department, local authority or statutory body; “contingent liability” includes Government’s guarantee for loan and foreign currency transfer and step in function in the event of default by the relevant contracting authority; “Counci T’means the Public-Private Partnership Council established under section six; “generic risks” means any circumstances that have the potential to adversely affect the development of, or interests of the parties to, an infrastructure project or infrastructure facility or the provision of any social sector services or the interest of a contracting authority, in the nature of construction period risk, operation period risk, market and revenue risk, finance risk, legal risk and miscellaneous risk, as prescribed by the Minister; “infrastructure facility” means any physical facility and systems that directly or indirectly provide services to the general public; “infrastructure project” means the design, construction, development and operation of any new infrastructure facility or the rehabilitation, modernisation, expansion or operation of any existing infrastructure facility; “local authority” has the meaning assigned to it under the Local Government Act; cap. 281 “material default” means any failure of a concessionaire to perform any duty under a public-private agreement which affects or will affect the deliveryzof service to the public, and remains unsatisfied after a reasonable period of time and after the concessionaire has received written notice of the failure from the Unit; “National Council for Construction” means the Council established under the National Council for Construction Act,20(b, ActNo. 13 “preferred bidder” means a bidder, including any bidding of 2003 consortium, selected as a successful bidder during the competitive selection process; “project” means an infrastructure project, an infrastructure facility, or the provision of any social sector service, as the case may be; I i j i 5 I I 1 ! i t i i I “public-private partnership” means investment through private sector participation in an infrastructure project or infrastructure facility; “public-private partnership agreement” means a contractual arrangement between a contracting authority and a concessionaire, made in accordance with this Act, in which the concessionaire— (a) undertakes to perform or undertake any infrastructure project or infrastructure facility as specified in the First Schedule or as prescribed; (b) undertakes to provide or provides such social sector services as may be prescribed; (c) assumes substantial financial, technical and operational risks in connection with the performance of the institutional function or use of State property; and (d) receives consideration for performing a public function or utilising State property, either by way of— (i) a fee from any revenue fund or a Ministry’s budgetary funds; (ii) user levies collected by the concessionaire from users or customers for a service provided by it; or (iii) a combination of the consideration paid under sub-paragraphs (i) and (ii); 'regulatory agency” means a public authority that is entrusted with the power to issue and enforce the laws governing infrastructure development or the provision of services; Technical Committee” means the Public-Private Partnership Technical Committee established under section ten; Unit” means the Public-Private Partnership Unit established under section four; unsolicited proposal” means any proposal relating to the implementation of an infrastructure project or infrastructure facility that is not submitted in response to a request or solicitation issued by the Unit or a contracting authority within the context of a competitive selection procedure; user levy” means the right or authority granted to a concessionaire by the contracting authority to recover investment and a fair return on investment and includes Act No. 11 of 2006 Establishment ofPublic- Private Partnership Unit Functions of Unit tolls, fees, tariffs, charges or other benefit whatsoever called; __ “value for money” means the carrying out of the institutional function of a contracting authority or the use of State property by a concessionaire, in terms of an agreement, which results in a net benefit to the contracting authority or consumer, defined in terms of cost, price, quality, quantity, risk transfer or a combination thereof; and “Zambia Development Agency” has the meaning assigned to it in the Zambia Development Agency Act, 2006. PART II The Public-Private Partnership Unit, Council and Technical Committee