"To privatise" : what is & how?

This paper draws on lessons of experience and existing knowledge on privatisation, briefly addressing the main issues and describing how the privatisation process can be planned and implemented successfully. Privatisation is first defined, leading in to a discussion on how the privatisation process can be organised, managed and implemented. The potential obstacles to privatisation and conditions for its success are highlighted. The paper concludes that privatisation is not a panacea for public sector ills, but rather one facet of the larger policy issue of public enterprice reform and private sector development.

A paper presented at a seminar on "Competition, Productivity and Privatisation: Commonwealth Experiences and Lesson for Botswana" organised by Botswana Institute for Development Policy Analysis & Botswana National Productivity Centre under the sponsorship of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Gaborone Sun Hotel, Gaborone, Botswana, (21-23 April, 1997)