Management and financing of road transport infrastructure in Africa

This paper considers the major issues confronting the financing and management of road transport infrastructure in Africa today. From the starting point of accelerating road deterioration and inadequate attention to maintenance in the late 1980s, the paper shows how the new thinking on managing roads in a business-like fashion came to be applied in Africa. It traces the impact that the changes have had to date - both on institutional arrangements and on the performance of the road networks - with focus on assistance provided by the Road Management Initiative, a donor-funded, World Bank managed program supporting the formulation and implementation of appropriate policies in the road sector. The nature of the reforms and the impact they have had is described, with the initial emphasis on the deficits in the provision of financing of road maintenance. The paper goes on to point out the additional measures that are needed to complement financing innovations if there is to be a lasting improvement in the road sector. These concern principally establishing efficient, autonomous road agencies to manage road networks. Also important is strengthening government's role to provide effective guidance on transport policy and regulation as well as exploiting the emerging technological opportunities for improving the performance and reducing the costs of pavement structures. The paper sets out some of the strategies that could be used to obtain progress in these areas, with due consideration given as to how to best deal with the constraints to change that have been observed in the experience in Africa to date.