Financing of road maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa : reforms and progress towards second generation road funds

Abstract

The paper on financing of road maintenance in Sub-Saharan Africa discusses the evaluation criteria for assessing second generation road funds and gives an overview of their performance. It also identifies the constraints encountered by road funds in their move towards second generation road funds. The objective of the analysis is to deepen the understanding of best practice in order to provide guidance to countries setting up or restructuring road funds. This paper presents the result of an analysis of a data base used as a tracking system that summarizes the state of advance of reform implementation in 30 countries in SSA with a particular emphasis on road funds performance. The findings are supported by visits to a number of SSA countries and a survey conducted among road fund managers to measure performance indicators of the road sector institutions. Overall, the road maintenance needs are becoming more visible. Road funds have secured a more stable and predictable flow of funds for road maintenance but country progress varies widely and, although a country might have established a road fund, this does not necessarily mean that it is either fully efficient, or fully autonomous. In most cases, the establishment of a road fund has not resolved the insufficiency of funds for road maintenance. The results also show that more efforts are required to capture and sustain the efficiency gains that could derive from the improvement of road management practices and better use of available resources.