Figure 6.b, depicts the partial association between income per capita and the WEF perception of road quality during 2008–12. The figure confirms the findings of figure 6.a, that countries with higher income per capita tend to have better road quality. Perceived quality of the road network is the highest in South Africa (and above the international benchmark) for 2008–12—thus, outperforming countries in South America, like Brazil and Colombia. Other MICs in the region (for instance, Nigeria and Gabon) clearly underperform for their level of income per capita. Among LICs in the region, Guinea appears to have the lowest level of road quality, whereas the quality of roads in Rwanda and Ethiopia is far better than the one predicted by the international norm.

Railroad quality also exhibits a direct and positive relationship with income per capita after controlling for demographic and geographic indicators. The perception of railroad quality is the highest in Gabon, closely followed by South Africa. Countries with lower income per capita (say, Sri Lanka and Morocco) display similar levels of rail quality. Among MICs in the region, the perception of rail quality in Nigeria and Angola is lower than that predicted by the international norm. In the group of LICs in Sub-Saharan Africa, Uganda exhibits the largest distance to the international norm.

**Figure 6. Transport Quality and Income per Capita**

**a. Share of paved roads b. WEF perception of road quality**

<!-- Start of picture text --> 2008 - 2012 Benchmark (average) 2008 - 2012 Benchmark (average)<br>ZAF<br>MUS RWA GMB<br>MDGNER MOZ BFAMLI SEN MDGETHMOZMWI BFAZWEMLIUGABENTZASENLSOKENCMRCIVGHAZMB NGA AGO GABMUS<br>TZA KENCMRGHA GIN<br>-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2<br>GDP per capita GDP per capita Residuals (pop+area)<br>90% CI Linear Fit 90% CI Linear Fit<br>EAP ECA IND LAC MENA SA SSA EAP ECA IND LAC MENA SA SSA<br>R-sq: 0.4079; Observations 58; Using PWT 9.0 R-sq: 0.3981; Observations 91; Using PWT 9.0<br>Adjusted by demographic and geographic features. Adjusted by demographic and geographic features.<br>2 1<br>1 .5<br>0 0<br>Paved Roads Roads, WEF(pop+area)<br>-1 -.5<br>-2 -1<br><!-- End of picture text --> _Sources: International Road Federation, World Road Statistics; World Bank, World Development Indicators; World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report. GDP per capita is from Feenstra, Inklaar, and Timmer 2015. Note: CI = confidence interval; EAP = East Asia and the Pacific; ECA = Europe and Central Asia; GDP = gross domestic product; IND = Industrial Countries; LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean; MENA = Middle East and North Africa; SA = South Asia; SSA = Sub-Saharan Africa; WEF = World Economic Forum._

# **Infrastructure Access**

_Access to Electricity._ Countries with greater income per capita tend to provide greater access to electricity. This finding holds after controlling for geography and demography (figure 7). For 1998–2002, the countries with the highest rates of access to electricity are Gabon and Mauritius—with adjusted rates that are higher than those of countries with similar income per capita (for example, Brazil and Mexico). Several LICs in this period have weak performance when compared with the international norm, namely, Malawi, Rwanda, and Lesotho. Over 2008–12, Gabon and Mauritius continued to display higher rates of access in the region. South Africa moved closer to the international norm. There was improvement over time in Rwanda and Tanzania, and Malawi remained the weakest performer in electricity access.

_Infrastructure in Sub-Saharan Africa - 17_