The Road maintenance is well known in Rwanda
for financing the maintenance of the national
road network. However can you provide us with
a brief overview of the steps that marked the
development of the Road Maintenance Fund since
its creation?
As the First Generation Road Fund, the National
Road Fund was attached to the Central Government.
It was actually a division within the Ministry
of Public Works, Transport and Communications.
The arrangement at the time was as follows: You
program the work on one hand, and you finance
the programed activities on the other. All this
would be the responsibility of one Department.
This kind of arrangement was later reviewed because
it did not provide a secure and stable flow of
funds for roads. The Fund was generally characterised
by the following management problems:
· There was no oversight board.
· The Fund relied on earmarked revenues,
not always related to road use.
· The Fund had a weak legal basis
· The Fund did not have published financial
rules and regulations
· The Fund was not subjected to independent
technical and financial audits
To resolve these problems, a second generation
road fund was born and that is The Road Maintenance
Fund we have today. The Fund as it is today, has
the legal personality as well as the financial
and administrative autonomy. The main objective
of the Fund is to finance the maintenance of Rwanda's
road network.
What is your major challenge for 2002?
The main challenge to the Fund at the moment
is the clearance of some maintenance backlog.
The road network was neglected for about six years
before the 1994 Genocide and the 1997 El- Nino
rains contributed to further road damage. The
Government of National Unity and Road Users have
however, combined forces in resourse mobilisation
and about 70% of the network is now in fairly
good condition. The challenge for us this year
will be to elevate the road quality condition
to about 80%.
To your opinon, what are the main investment
opportunities in the sector?
Since only about 10% of the entire road network
is paved, there are great opportunities for construction
of paved roads as well as for financing arrangements.
Private Finance Institutions could extend to the
Roads Maintenance Fund affordable credits for
rehabilitation works on an agreed payback period.
Other future opportunities for private investors
could take the form of involvement in such schemes
as Build Own Operate Transfer( BOOT ), Build Operate
Transfer( BOT ), Build Transfer Operate( BTO ),
Design Build Operate Maintain( DBOM ), etc. It
will however, be for the Government to identify
the need for a particular scheme, determine whether
it is suitable for private financing or for development
as a public- private partnership.
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The emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund was
recently launched by the UK Government to provide
long-term debt financing for infrastructure projects
in Africa. What is your opinion about this Fund,
and other international initiatives that aim at
improving infrastructure within Africa?
Such a Fund and similar international initiatives
would be very supportive to the landlocked Rwanda,
but my understanding is that the UK Government,
particularly DFID, is mainly involved with Good
Governance issues in Rwanda. Maybe in future DFID
will extend its involvement to the transport sector.
I personally didn't know about Africa Infrastructure
Fund meant for Africa. Through DFID, our Road
Maintenance Fund will probably request the UK
Infrastructure Fund to provide long-term financing
for major rehabilitation works.
What other steps could the Government take
to encourage more investment in the infrastructure
sector?
The on-going reforms in the Road sector should
be extended to include inter-alia development
of the institutional and regulatory framework;
transformation of some entities of the road administration
into corporate entities and expose them to the
challenges of a competitive market environment;
and adaptation of the system of financing, taxation,
pricing and insurance to meet the road sector's
objectives. For more investment in the Infrastructure
sector, the sector has to be taken to the market
economy, that is, it has to be commercialised.
The Government will need committed investors both
local and foreign, in the commercialised road
sector.
On a more personal level, can you tell us
more about yourself, what brought you to the Road
Maintenance Fund and what would you wish to accomplish
in the near future?
Immediately after my university education, I
was attached to a private firm of consulting engineers.
This was an arrangement between that consultant
firm, and the university, which had nominated
me to stay on as a tutorial assistant. In time
I became a lecturer. That was in 1996. In July
1997, I came home to Rwanda. I became a Construction
Advisor at the Lutheran World Federation. Later
on, I became a freelance consultant. After six
months as freelance consultant mainly in the road
sector , I was nominated by the Council of Ministers
to be the Director of the Road Maintenance Fund.
I would want to see the Fund providing a dedicated
financing arrangement that ensures a sustainable
and stable basis for road maintenance. With excellent
service delivery and operational efficiency by
the Fund, Rwanda shall in the course of time,
have a well maintained road network, probably
the best in Africa.
Regarding my aspirations for the future, I would
like to always be able to give my humble contribution
to the prosperity of Rwanda.
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RWANDA
