THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC’S INFRASTRUCTURE: A CONTINENTAL PERSPECTIVE

**Table 4. Condition and type of road corridors**

||Total|Type (%)||Conditio|n (%)||Averag<br>(%)|e annual da<br>300–|ily traffic|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|Corridor|kilometers|Paved|Unpaved|Good|Fair|Poor|<300|1,000|>1,000|
|_Douala to Bangui_|_1,704_|_69_|_31_|_48_|_25_|_25_|_65_|_20_|_15_|
|Cameroon|1,118|52|48|30|36|35|53|24|23|
|Central African Republic [1]|587|100|0|100|0|0|86|14|0|
|_Pointe Noire to Brazzaville to_<br>_Bangui_|_2,419_|_40_|_54_|_21_|_21_|_49_|_27_|_11_|_0_|
|Cameroon|311|0|100|56|39|0|70|24|0|
|Central African Republic [1]|535|99|1|100|0|0|79|19|0|
|Congo, Rep. of|1,573|28|63|0|21|69|0|6|0|

_Source:_ AICD calculations.

_Note:_ The summation of the good, fair, and poor conditions does not necessarily add up to 100 since there might be some links of the network for which the condition is unknown. The summation of the paved and unpaved type does not necessarily add up to 100 since there might be some links of the network for which the type is unknown. [1] Asphalt and surface treatment pavements are considered paved roads.

The relatively poor condition of the corridors in the coastal countries calls for further regional coordination and collaboration. The adoption of the Trade and Transport Facilitation Program by the CEMAC (Economic Community of Central African States) member states points in this direction. The program comprises the implementation of a regional institutional framework, harmonization of national regulations, regional interconnectivity of customs information technology systems, and implementation of a pilot trade and transport facilitation project on the Bangui-Douala (about 1,450 km) and N’DjamenaDouala (about 1,850 km) surface transport corridors.

Road financing in the CAR is a major challenge. At 10 cents per liter (figure 6), the CAR fuel levy is among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa covering routine maintenance needs and 25 percent of the total maintenance requirements. Existing fuel levy represents around 7 percent of the retail diesel and super gasoline prices. AICD estimations suggest that CAR is spending on maintenance and rehabilitation around 55 percent and 10 percent less than required, respectively.

Despite the implementation of road user charges, public funding to finance the road sector is still likely to be needed. The challenge is large due to the poor budgetary situation of the government and the high volatility of transfers in recent years. In 2001 central transfers accounted for 56 percent of the Road Fund’s total revenue; in 2003 this was 71 percent, and in 2006 only 26 percent.

But estimates suggest that low execution ratios are an important source of inefficiency in the road sector. In fact, the road sector received $54 million on average per year from the public sector, out of which $9 million was lost due to low budget execution. This means that budgeted capital spending is typically 16 percent higher than what the CAR actually succeeds in spending. If rehabilitation requirements are compared to an estimate of budgeted (versus actual) capital spending, then the funding situation looks somewhat more positive. Thus, improving capital budget execution is an important first step toward clearing rehabilitation backlogs. In Sub-Saharan Africa the evidence shows that the main causes of low budget execution are weaknesses and delays in the public procurement process that prevent 13