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This paper focusses on external stakeholders’ perspective of stakeholder management in public–private partnerships (PPP) projects within the context of developing countries where public opposition to PPP projects is prevalent. The purpose of this paper is to identify the key enablers to PPP projects’ success from the perspective of external stakeholders.

Data were collected from two case studies via semi-structured interviews in two PPP project locations in Nigeria. In total, 14 external stakeholders comprising community leaders, trade unionists and human right activist participated in the research.

Five key enablers of external stakeholder management were identified. These are as follows: the choice of project location; transparency of the internal stakeholders; timing of stakeholder engagement; knowledge of PPP; and relationship with internal stakeholders.

External stakeholders’ perspective of stakeholder management in PPP projects within the context of developing countries new to PPP has been established. The practical implications of the five enablers can be used by policy makers and industry professionals to ensure effective stakeholder management of PPP projects.

The implementation of public–private partnerships (PPPs), particularly in low- and middle-income countries, has been hampered by external stakeholders’ opposition leading to the failure of several projects. The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework to improve external stakeholder management in PPP projects.

Two case studies consisting of 23 interviews with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders were employed. This was supplemented with a focus group approach to validate the framework.

A new framework for the management of external stakeholders is developed. It encompasses new features such as the dynamic identification of stakeholders at each project phase and their corresponding interests.

The scope is road transportation projects in Nigeria and thus the recommendations may not be globally applicable.

The findings can help the public sector and their agencies to manage external stakeholders and maintain successful relationships on PPP projects.

The paper contributes to existing knowledge in four key areas: it confirms that the skill and actions of internal stakeholders are vital to the stakeholder management process; it shows that one-off stakeholder identification proposed in literature is a flawed approach; it proposes that the identification of external stakeholders’ interests be dynamic; and it adds the perspective of low- and middle-income countries in stakeholder management in PPP projects.