The Association of Road Maintenance Funds in Africa (ARMFA) meeting hosted by the Namibia Road Fund Administration (RFA) ended on Monday last week in Windhoek after two days of deliberations.
Chief executive officers and representatives from neighbouring road fund administrators in Southern Africa met to share best practices on road fund administration and road financing models. The meeting highlighted the urgent need for effective stakeholder engagement in order to deliver value for money to road users.
Speaking at the closing ceremony, Ali Ipinge, Chief Executive Officer of RFA Namibia, emphasized the importance of creating linkages and integration between road infrastructure with other transport infrastructure i.e. rail, ports and air as the best way to promote the region as a logistical hub.
“We have a long way to go to make sure that we have efficient road fund services. Progress has been made to create value for money for road users, but more needs to be done,” said Ipinge at the meeting.
The team of Road Fund Administrator CEOs agreed with a statement by the chairman of the Southern African Focal Group, Eng. Juma, that stakeholder confidence has improved due to implementation of key recommendations made at the group meetings such as the one held in Windhoek.
Closing the meeting, the words “improvement” and “implementation” were constantly mentioned. Delegates all bought into the statement that “words must be turned into deeds” if road fund administrators are to make a sizeable contribution to Africa’s greatest asset – the road infrastructure.
Tuesday morning saw the delegates drive to the coast to visit Namibia’s flagship port in Walvis Bay – Namport – that included a short tour of the road works project between Windhoek and Okahandja; first-hand experience of Namibia’s unique “salt” road (the dune belt road) between Swakopmund and Walvis Bay as well as a visit to the Walvis Bay weigh bridge.
Delegates were impressed with the quality of Namibia’s transport infrastructure and absorbed some good ideas on road planning, design, maintenance, funding and efficient allocation of the resources towards road development and maintenance.
Countries represented at the meeting included Namibia, Lesotho, Comoros, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Malawi
ARMFA is a non-profit, 34-member continental body, which is non-political. It was set up in 2003 as a platform for information, experience and knowledge sharing among member countries with a view for members to learn from the successes and challenges of each other in order to collectively develop strategies to ensure medium term sustainability and harmonious development of road maintenance funds in Africa.