An Exploration of the Factors that Contribute to Delays in the Completion of Public Infrastructure Construction Projects in Sub- Saharan Africa

for future studies. jpaswr LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction The literature review provides a comprehensive overview of research regarding the delays in the completion of public infrastructure construction projects in sub-Saharan Africa. This review is arranged according to major themes and patterns found in the body of current literature. Furthermore, the selection of research journal articles and studies is guided by a framework that places a priority on methodological soundness, relevance, and contributions to the understanding of the delays in the completion of public infrastructure construction projects. 2.2 Delays in the Completion of Public Infrastructure Construction Projects Delays are hold-ups and hindrances, and in the context of the completion of public infrastructure construction projects, they are extensions to the durations specified in the original projects’ contract (Ahmad et al., 2020). In construction projects, including public infrastructure, delays are heterogeneous (Durdyev & Hosseini, 2020). In other words, their effects on projects are different. Some examples of these effects are financial penalties, increased labour, material, and equipment costs, and a delay in productive activities (Sha et al., 2017). 2.3 Systems Theory Regarding the study on the factors contributing to delays in the completion of public infrastructure construction projects, the systems theory is particularly relevant. Systems theory is an interdisciplinary theory that holds the view that systems are complex and interconnected elements that work together to accomplish a common objective (Luhmann et al., 2013). In the context of exploring the factors that contribute to delays in the completion of public infrastructure construction projects, the theory is relevant in the sense of seeing a public infrastructure construction project as a dynamic and interconnected system (Chen et al., 2020). In other words, a public infrastructure construction project exists within a wider context of social, economic, political, and environmental and many other factors. Thus, by looking at public infrastructure construction projects as systems, the study captures the interdependence and complexities of factors, such as the ones related to socio-economic, institutional and project management practices, as crucial to influencing project timelines and completion (Asiedu & Ameyaw, 2021). Specifically, the theory helps in understanding how any changes in these factors have significant effects on the outcomes, including the timelines and completion of projects (Whitney et al., 2015). Overall, the systems theory provides a framework for analysing the complex nature of public infrastructure construction projects. This includes the exploration of factors contributing to delays in the completion of public infrastructure construction projects. 2.4 Empirical Review/Literature Gap Several earlier studies have looked into the reasons behind construction project delays. The results of this research have varied across a range of contexts, including different nations, project types under investigation, data-gathering techniques, and project ownership structures. For instance, Senouci et al. (2016) carried out a study to determine the causes of delays and cost overruns in public construction projects in Qatar. Secondary data reports issued by the Qatari Public Works Authority for 122 public road, construction and drainage projects were used in this study. The findings showed that there were no significant variations or differences in the reasons for delays and cost overruns according to the project size, category (new or maintenance) or type jpaswr (road, building or drainage). However, there were notable differences found in the causes of delays according to the duration of the projects and the year of completion. The study, therefore, identified increasing project contract prices as the cause of the delays. Kumaraswamy and Raza (2014) carried out a study in a developing nation to determine the factors that led to cost overruns in road construction in Sri Lanka. Two World Bank-funded initiatives provided samples of their data. The study included interviews with a cross-sectional sample of stakeholders in addition to the review and analysis of documents. The findings indicated four areas for improvement regarding problems arising from procurement strategies and procedures, standard contract documents, including their interpretation and implementation, contract administration, and variations arising from tender documents. All of these contributed to the delays. Next, Elawi et al. (2016) carried out a study in the Middle East, albeit restricted to construction projects occurring in particular regions and utilising secondary data, specifically real-time quantitative performance analysis. The data from 49 infrastructure projects in Mecca, Saudi Arabia was evaluated by those authors. It was worth noting that ten primary reasons for the delays in these projects were found by the study. The findings indicated that the most significant reason for the delay was land acquisition, followed by the inexperience of contractors, re-designing, randomly placed subsurface utilities and owner-to-owner design conflicts. While the review covers a variety of studies that investigate the factors or causes of delays in the completion of projects in different contexts, there seems to be a gap in the representation of studies focused on public infrastructure construction projects and the sub-Saharan African region, as well as the use of secondary data. Thus, the current study intends to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors that contribute to delays in the completion of projects albeit from the perspective of public infrastructure construction projects within the context of sub-Saharan Africa. Also, the study will focus on studies that use primary data, rather than secondary data. This is because, unlike secondary data, studies that use primary data are often reliable because of their authenticity, as the data are directly from sources (Ajayi, 2017). RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research Philosophy The study adopted the interpretivism research philosophy. Interpretivism is a research philosophy that emphasises understanding and interpretive meanings that individuals ascribe to their actions, experiences and social phenomena (Ryan, 2018). The study adopted the interpretivism research philosophy because it wants to create a comprehensive picture and understanding of delays in the completion of public infrastructure construction projects in sub-Saharan Africa. It makes sense to explore the factors contributing to these delays because the general belief is that the factors are different and subjective. Thus, the study’s choice of interpretivism research philosophy was justified because it (interpretivism research philosophy) also incorporates subjective assessments (Ryan, 2018). 3.2 Research Strategy The study adopted archival research, which is research that entails primary sources of information held in data repositories, libraries, documents, records, manuscripts and other sources (Ventresca & Mohr, 2017). The study’s focus on reviewing and analysing previous studies done on the subject (Tesar, 2015), and within the context of sub-Saharan Africa informs the choice of archival research. In other jpaswr words, the archival research is comparable to the systematic literature review, which the study utilised. Specifically, the study focused on reviewing and analysing the data and findings of related studies or literature relevant to the factors that contribute to delays in the completion of public infrastructure construction projects in sub-Saharan Africa. Methodological Choice The study adopted a qualitative research method. The study's decision was informed by interpretivism research philosophy since it emphasises subjectivity by embracing unique thoughts or opinions, which is the same goal as qualitativ