A strong negative perception to toll roads as a revenue option to maintain the national network seems to limit the options for authorities tasked with this mammoth responsibility.
This is after the Road Fund Administration (RFA) revealed reports from a media tracking service indicating some 38 000 negative reactions to tolling in Namibia.
“The RFA expects strong public resistance to tolling, given the experience with e-tolls in South Africa. However, there are very successful case studies in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique, and we believe with extensive stakeholder consultations, the RFA will inform and educate the public that distance-based road user charges are the way of the future,” stated RFA CEO Ali Ipinge in the latest annual report.
The 2023 report noted that the average toll would range from N$19.26 for passenger vehicles to N$83.08 across all sections. However, the actual toll fee will be determined primarily by the traffic volumes, length of the road, and cost of capital.
Road users in return, according to RFA, would save on vehicle operating costs due to good pavement surfaces and enjoy safer roads, amounting to N$0.21/km and N$1.65/km for light and heavy vehicles, respectively, or N$1.1 billion annually.
In addition, the road administration added that tolling can increase gross domestic production (GDP) growth by 0.4% annually, through construction activity, new jobs, consumption and second round economic impact. This amounts to N$600 million annually. Tolling would therefore conceivably add N$1.7 billion to the Namibian economy, thus resulting in a social profit of roughly N$1 billion.
In staunch resistance, Popular Democratic Movement (PDM) leader McHenry Venaani has come out strongly in rejection of the toll roads option.
“The economic bane on consumers today can never allow asking people to pay more with volatile oil prices. Government can go play far, rejected today, tomorrow and the day after,” said Venaani at the time.
Commenting on the toll gate system, local economist Omu Kakujaha-Matundu advised the system is a no-go area for Namibia.
Meanwhile, for the year under review, RFA has collected revenue of N$2.3 billion but has cautioned that more is needed to optimally maintain the national road network.
“Without doubt, the current levels of the road user charges remain insufficient to maintain the national road network and this funding gap will continue to grow as the road network ages. Therefore, there is an urgent need to increase revenue substantially,” Ipinge stated, adding that “Various revenue sources are under consideration”.