Namibia’s roads ranked the best in Africa

THE Roads Authority has announced that Namibia was once again accorded top position for having the best roads in Africa by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

The results were released via the WEF’s Global Competitiveness Report for 2017/18. The Global Competitive Report index tracks the performance of approximately 140 countries on 12 pillars of competitiveness, including the quality of road infrastructure development. 

Namibia tops the list of African countries in the category of road infrastructure development with an impressive score of 5,2 out of 7. Namibia is also above Ecuador, Bahrain, Qatar and Great Britain which all scored a 5,1. The only other African countries to make the top 50 are South Africa and Rwanda tied with a score of 5 each followed by Mauritius with a 4,7 score. 

The United Arab Emirates took the overall top position with a remarkable 6,5 score. 

Since the establishment of the Roads Authority in April 2000, the organisation has continued to play a vital role in the socio-economic development of Namibia, and in particular the advancement of previously neglected areas of our country. 

The expansion of our road network has already started to bear fruit as many of the communities in Namibia have access to the main centres of the country. 

Also, the road network continues to contribute to the economic growth of other SADC countries. 

Namibia is the only SADC country that has well-developed and functioning corridors such as Trans-Caprivi Highway that links Namibia with Zambia, Zimbabwe and DRC, the Trans Kalahari Highway that links Namibia to Botswana and South Africa’s industrial hub (Gauteng) and the Trans Kunene Corridor that links Namibia to Angola and the DRC via the port of Walvis Bay. 

All these corridors continue to play a pivotal role in the economic development of SADC.

“This accolade is a re-affirmation of the efforts made by the RA to develop our road infrastructure and to ensure that it is on par with global standards. I would, therefore, like to express our sincere gratitude to our government for the visionary leadership and for continuously making available funds for road infrastructure development,” Conrad Mutonga Lutombi, RA CEO said. 

Lutombi also expressed gratitude to stakeholders such as the Road Fund Administration, the municipalities and all road users for their contribution towards this achievement. 

“We pride ourselves on this important recognition and see it as a measure of not only how far we have come and achieved but also as a re-assurance that we are on the right path in our mission to manage a safe and efficient national road network to support economic growth in line with the National Development Plans (NDP), Harambee Prosperity Plan (HPP) and Vision 2030 objectives,” he concluded. 

The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Geneva. The foundation is recognised by the Swiss authorities as the international institution for public-private cooperation and its mission is cited as “committed to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape global, regional, and industry agendas”. 

Source: Roads Authority

Sourced from the Namibian Newspaper – Business www.namibian.com.na