Challenges in Sustainable Project Management in Sub-Saharan Africa

The study examines the multifaceted nature of project management within sub-Saharan Africa, highlighting both successes and failures across different sectors such as renewable energy, international development, and manufacturing. Renewable energy projects face sustainability challenges due to inadequate planning and resource allocation, as detailed in studies by Ikejemba et al. (2017). Meanwhile, international development efforts often grapple with capacity building issues, which require a nuanced understanding of local contexts and stakeholder engagement, as highlighted by Kabra et al. (2017) and Muthuri (2017). In the manufacturing sector, unions struggle to adapt to rapid technological changes, resulting in weakened organizational responses (Hlatshwayo, 2017). The essay underscores the importance of tailoring project management strategies to local contexts and fostering robust stakeholder collaboration as essential components for achieving sustainable outcomes. By synthesizing insights from various studies, including those by Larmour (2017) and Mann (2017), it provides a comprehensive overview of the critical factors influencing project success in this diverse region.

Project Planning and Management 1 16000797
SEMESTER: ONE
MODULE TITLE: Project Planning and Management 1 - DEV -‐7004D
MODULE LECTURER: Dr. P. B. Anand
QUESTION: To what extent are project failures more common in the Global South than
in the so called Developed Countries (the Global North)? Illustrate your answer using
evidence from a range of case studies sourced from appropriate literature.
SUBMITTED BY: 16000797

Project Planning and Management 16000797
NO OF WORDS: 1,501
TURNITIN NO:
DATE: January 9, 2018
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Executive Summary
This essay talks about the failure of projects in the global south (Developing Countries) of the
world with various case studies provided in the report and reasons or causes of said failure. The
factors causing failures of projects have been identified in the report in comparison to that of the
global north (Developed Countries). With proper analysis, different factors have been provided
in the paper.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
International Development Projects................................................................................................3
Project management failures factors................................................................................................4
Case Study 1....................................................................................................................................5
Case Study 2....................................................................................................................................6
Case Study 3....................................................................................................................................6
Case study 4.....................................................................................................................................7
Project management Problems........................................................................................................7
Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
This essay talks about the failure of projects in the global south (Developing Countries)
of the world with various case studies provided in the report and reasons or causes of said failure.
The factors causing failures of projects is been identified in this easy in comparison to that of the
global north (Developed Countries). With proper analysis, different factors have been provided
in the paper.
Project management has been able to develop various subject discipline with different
management functions including information, operations and financial systems. Various
organizations have started using different project management tools for minimizing the failure
rates in different countries (Kerzner 2013). However, there has been failure cases of projects in
several parts of the world.
The emphasis is placed on how to deals with different failure and success cases of
projects in several parts of the world and those factors causing project failures in both the global
south and the global north.
This report outlines various case studies of projects in different parts of the world. This
report helps in analyzing factors for the success of a project in developed countries of the world
along with different project management tools and techniques have been discussed in the report.
International Development Projects
International Development Projects are the projects that are funded by World Bank. This
project has various sub-programs of a long time development plan. The World Bank supervisors
help in advising government analyst regarding a definition of project, missions and vision of
country and strategies for national development. As commented by Kerzner (2013), the World
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Bank projects deal with the overall development of a country in various fields including
information technology and Construction. The design process of a project starts at abstract level
including conceptual design and strategic alignment of a program with the project. As mentioned
by Burke (2013), the traditional approach of a project includes time alignment with a project are
relevant. Therefore, most of the projects are implemented economically, managerially and
politically with different contexts of developed countries (Babb and Kentikelenis 2017).
This is case of ID projects funded by ID agencies, multilateral ones, including the World
Bank, the United Nations, and the European Union, and bilateral ones, the United States Agency
for International Development (USAID), the Canadian International Development Agency
(CIDA), French Cooperation, and many other governmental and nongovernmental organizations.
As suggested by Larson and Gray (2013), these projects include small, medium, large, and extra-
large public projects and cover all sectors of developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa, North
Africa, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, Central and Latin America, and Central Europe. As
commented by Schwalbe (2015), these projects include various sectors including transportation
water, electricity, construction, health, nutrition and population.
On the other hand, ID projects differ from normal standard projects in terms of literature
and project management practices. As mentioned by Ogah et al. (2015), International
development project focuses on enactment of social change for poor people of the country
maintaining social diversity based on size, location and purpose. Project management in
international development deals with demands of local constraints and stakeholders. The ability
to attract and retain talented employees is responsible for the successful business. Employees are
the key assets of success for a project in an organization. The employee engagement is necessary
for healthy management of the project in the market. The southern countries have low employee
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engagement in the organization that creates an issue in employee retention from an organization.
Human resource is an imperative factor for enhancing skills and knowledge of workforce of a
project team.
Project management failures factors
Many cases have been reported related to a failure of projects in parts of the world. The
dissatisfaction of stakeholders and customers have been a prime reason for the failure of projects.
The southern developing countries including Africa has been suffering from poor budget
invested in a project. As commented by Dillon and Barrett (2017), the Independent Evaluation
Group (IEG) have claimed that in 2010, 39% of World Bank Projects were unsuccessful.
However, the World Bank has helped in investing more than US$ 5 billion in more than 700
projects in Africa over past 20 years. The project failure rates have been over 50% in Africa and
other southern countries (Casadellà et al. 2016). The unsuccessful projects of the World Bank in
Africa have been in infrastructure, oil, mining and gas. The project failures in southern countries
have been an issue created all over the world. The lack of political support includes the careless,
selfish, bureaucratic and corrupted government of the country (Wapner and Kantel 2017).
Therefore, it creates various issues during the progress of the project. The control over the
project is missed due to lack of support provided by political parties. The comparison of failure
rate in southern countries has been more than that of northern countries of the world. As
mentioned by Aall (2015), the developing countries have been suffering from various problems
in financial conditions. Business organizations in Africa have not been properly developed for
doing international business. This has created failure issues for projects in these countries
(Pennycook 2017). Africa lacked in highly qualified people that have created technical issues in
the country.
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Case Study 1
As commented by Ika and Donnelly (2017), the Ministry of Women and Children’s
Affairs (MOWAC) was established by the Ministry of Ghana for developing strategies and
programs for reducing poverty and improving the life of women and children in the country. In
this vision, the government of Ghana had invested fund of Ghc 2,625,000 (US$2,625,000) for
initiating the project. The main objective of the project was for helping women and children in
the development of their life. The project would help in providing work and income for women
and for their future investment. The Japanese government had approved a fund of Ghc3, 312,500
(US$3,312,500) for supporting the MOWAC. The Rural and Community Banks in Ghana have
provided microfinance and recovery of small and micro loans is 96.5-100%. However, the PFI
included in the Rural and Community Banks had not been provided with free hands by
politicians for the functioning of operational guidelines of the funds. Therefore, the project was
failed. The funds were dried up, PFI became reluctant for leveraging, and important issue of
sustainability in the project had arisen. There was no monitoring and controlling of the project by
official resulting in a complete shutdown of this project.
Case Study 2
Another project, Achimota-Ofankor Highway was started for minimizing traffic
congestion on the entry point to Accra from the northern part of Ghana (Vinokor, 2016). The
road was 5.7km long with an initial cost of US$37.0 million. The planning and design help in
maintaining the overall structure of the project. Therefore, project members have focused on the
artistic design of the road rather than the technical expert. Management plan and method was
created for ensuring control during project execution. The political factors were responsible for a
failure of the project. The financial condition of the project was not good. A government of the
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country was not able to provide proper funds for the project. The resources for a project has not
been provided to the project team. This had caused major issues in the construction of the road in
the country. Hence, the project was a failure.
Case Study 3
A project named Chad-Cameroon oil pipeline to the Atlantic Ocean was one of the
biggest projects in Africa. The World Bank had invested $4.2 billion for the project but in a
condition that money be spent with international supervision for developing Chad
(Columbia.edu, 2017). Therefore, the World Bank refused to invest money in the project and the
project became a failure.
Case study 4
The Lesotho Highlands water project was initiated to divert fresh water from mountains
for sale to South Africa for electricity. However, a project was not favourable for the people
nearby. The electricity proved to be expensive for people and diversion of water had caused
environmental and economical downstream in the country (Ai.org.za, 2017). Therefore, the
fundraiser for development of the country by selling the water was shut down in 2003. However,
Tens of thousands of people whose lives were ruined by diversion are still waiting for
compensation.
Project management Problems
A number of problems are responsible for the failures in projects. Developing countries
have been facing different problems including low education and technical background, lack of
capital and technology, lack of resources, low levels of productivity and poverty among the
maximum number of people in these countries. As commented by Andreas Plüddemann, Parry
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and Bhana (2017), these challenges have negatively affected the growth of project in developing
countries. These projects require high technicians and resources for completing it n time the
developing countries are not able to provide these resources on time. Therefore, it creates a
negative impact on the productivity of the project.
As mentioned by Carlson et al. (2017), lack of professional expertise and shortage of
scientific requirements minimizes decision-making techniques of the project member. The
stakeholders are responsible for the decision-making process in an organization. However, with
outworker resources, they are it able to make the proper decision that minimizes the quality of a
project. The hindrances in monitoring performance of the project during initiation. As mentioned
by Kabra, Ali and Kiarie (2017), lack of skilled workers in various projects as discussed earlier
have created the negative impact on the progress of the project. The Achimota-Ofankor Highway
project was failed due to the lack of skilled workers in the project team. The education level of
developing countries has been below average level. Therefore, this has created issues for
learning new things related to project. As suggested by Gbahabo and Ajuwon (2017), the skills
and knowledge of workers are limited that have failed the project. The private business
organizations are not ready to perform business in the developing countries including Africa.
Lack of research capacity has caused contemporary social issues in providing business
organization. As commented by Ikejemba, Schuur and Van Hillegersberg (2017), a poor strategic
planning and ineffective leadership skills in the team have caused problems in project
management process in developing countries. On the other hand, the developed countries
including Europe are well developed in every field. As commented by Pade-Khene and Lannon
(2017), these countries are proper resources and skilled workers and experts that help in
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monitoring progress of the project. These countries are financially rich and technically sound.
They have qualified professionals that help in a proper strategic planning of the project.
These issues are prevailing in the developing countries and observing a major cause for
project failures. For example, the construction FIFA 2010 World Cup stadium in South Africa is
a clear example explaining about a lack in workers. The impact of this factor has been miserable
on the project. As commented by Mann (2017), shortage of skilled labor has been ranked the
third out of nine causes of cost overrun and the second out of nine causes of time delays. Another
example is the development of Nelson Mandela Bay Metropole in South Africa where 100,000
that designs dwellings of architectural and engineering quality have to be constructed in 3-5
years for wiping out backlog 2 million homes (Baylis, Owens and Smith 2017). Failing to
provide skilled labour and properly trained by supervisors who are capable of delivering required
quality of work leaving delivery of homes to unfaithful contractors was a major challenge
towards achieving project objectives.
As commented by Muthuri (2017), lack of political support and leadership problems are
main challenges for developing projects in developing countries. The country's leadership vision
is not clear, then the project cannot sustain in that region. The lack of political support includes
the careless, selfish, bureaucratic and corrupted government of the country. Therefore, it creates
various issues during the progress of the project. The control over project gets missed due to lack
of support provided by political parties. As commented by Hlatshwayo (2017), the legal and
political issues in the state create unordered limitations in a project schedule. Political stability is
the key to social and economic development for any country. It is vital for attracting foreign
investment and constructing development projects. The collision among political parties causes
disruption in project site and damages property of the project (Larmour 2017). Therefore, the
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lack of financial condition and resources badly affect the progress of a project. Political
imperatives and authority misuse by laying off public funded projects in hands of politicians who
are accompanied with pressure forced by project authorization.
Conclusion and Recommendations
It can be concluded that the failure cases of projects in southern developing countries
have been more than that of northern developed countries. Project management processes have
been properly discussed in this paper. The use of different case studies has been provided in the
report. The case studies are related to failed cases of projects in the southern parts of the world.
The use of these case studies provides a glimpse of factors that are responsible for failure in
projects. The impact of the government in the failure of projects has been depicted in the paper.
Absence of budgetary assets, absence of the instructive organization and need in gifted laborers
are different components that are winning in the tasks. The discussed projects are various fields
including construction and water treatment. Various problems regarding failures in project
management have been focused on the report. The impact of these problems on a project has
been focused literally that helps in making strategic planning for mitigating these issues. The
strategic planning and lack in research designing are the basic reason for the project failure. Lack
of financial resources, lack of the educational institution and lack in skilled workers are other
factors that are prevailing in the projects.
The government in developing countries have to construct the various strategic mode of
developing objectives including healthcare facilities, infrastructure and educational institution.
Governments in developing countries need to perceive equality education and professional
training towards sustainable development and prosperity. This might provide equipped human
resource and technical expertise. These people have to overcome various developmental
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challenges in during project. The implementation of various training and motivation sessions
might help in providing quality education to team members. The government of developing
countries have to take initiative regarding the development of the projects in their state. These
include establishing stability in political stability, constructing infrastructure and technical
development. However, this might reflect positively on improving public morality and
encouraging member fir innovative ideas. The government of developing countries have to pay
attention towards malnutrition and bad health care facilities. The construction companies in
developing companies have to be provided with funds that might help in initiating projects in
developing countries. Therefore, the advancement of banks and funding organization is
necessary for the success of projects. The strategies for society and culture in the country have to
be enriched that belongs to improvement in a diversification of decision-making process. The
cultural activities in the democratic transition might help in changing civil society organizations
in the market. Therefore, this will help in strengthening trust between governments and their
societies. Different issues with respect to disappointments in venture administration have been
centered on the report. The effect of these issues on a venture has been centered truly that aides
in making key getting ready for relieving these issues. The key arranging and need in inquire
about planning are the fundamental explanation behind the undertaking disappointment.
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