BY GETACHEW MINAS
The stock of road networks is growing to support economic development and growth. The Ethiopian government has spent a substantial amount of fund for road development. Development partners have also provided funds for road projects.
Despite domestic and external financing, the issue of rural accessibility still remains far from the desired target level that the country needs to achieve. Regarding community roads, studies indicate that both management and accountability are weak to analyze the impact of road on community development.
The country needs to perform enormously to achieve the status of “middle income” country in road construction. This is expressed in terms of road network expansion, community road management and administration, and improved accessibility.
Econometric analysis has been made to investigate the impact of roads on economic growth in Ethiopia. The findings reveal that the total road network has significant growth-inducing impact.
When the road network is disaggregated, asphalt road has a positive impact; gravel roads “fail” to significantly affect overall economic growth, including agricultural growth.
Road development requires external support to achieve its objective of inducing growth in other sectors of the economy. The government needs to expand the road network with the aim of increasing the current rural accessibility, with more attention given to community road management and accountability.
Similarly, donors need to strengthen their support on road financing, which has a multiplier effect throughout the economy. Gravel road expansion has to be made to meet the target level of the road network that ascertains rural accessibility, agricultural productivity and market access to the rural poor.
In the last few decades, the Ethiopian government has been implementing various programs to boost multifaceted development including commercialization of agriculture. Successful implementation of the programs requires an efficient infrastructural network.
In particular, road transport is supposed to create a network over a wide array of infrastructural facilities. In addition, the road transport sector is essential for developing countries for the reason that provision of other “advanced” means of transportation is expensive.
Growth promoting sector
Public spending in rural infrastructure is one of the most powerful instruments that the government can use to promote economic growth and to reduce poverty. A well-developed road transport sector in developing countries is assumed to fuel up the growth process through a variety of activities.
Creating access to market opportunities for agricultural products is the major one. The issue of market access is more relevant for a country like Ethiopia where rural population accounts for about 85 percent of the total population who are engaged in production for both the local and external markets.
Road transport facilities play a role in both the production and consumption decisions of every household. Moreover, road transport facilities are essential for expanding public services such as education, health, and trade for domestic and export markets.
It facilitates better public as well as private service provisions, including banking and insurance services, to the marginalized rural people. Likewise, roads serve as key infrastructural units, which provide linkages to other modes of transportation like railways, shipping, and airways.
These means of transportation may not provide their services to the final target unless supported by road networks. They fail to reach the final consumer unless supported by the road sector.
In Ethiopia, road transport is the dominant mode and accounts for up to 95 percent of motorized inter-urban freight and passenger movements. However, because of its limited road network, provision of infrastructure has remained one of the formidable challenges for Ethiopia in its endeavor towards socio-economic development and poverty reduction.
The Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA) investigated the link between the country’s development plan and the road sector policy. The study generally indicated that there is a well-established nexus between the development plan of the country and the road sector policy. Because of its vital nature, it is important to undertake an investigation of the road sector in Ethiopia.
Road network in Ethiopia
The road network of the country has increased, though short of meeting the total need of the economy. The government has steadily expanded its road network in recent years. It is reported that as of the end of fiscal year 2018/19, Ethiopia had 138,127 km of all-weather roads, which is about 39 percent of the required network in the country.
ERA plans to build an additional 10,000 km of road in the coming years. It has been vigorously engaged in new road construction and expansion of the existing road networks. The increase in the length of road is due to the emphasis given to the sector.
The government has placed increased emphasis on improving the quality and size of the road infrastructure. To address the constraints in the road sector related to restricted road network coverage and low standards, the government had originally formulated a 10-year Road Sector Development Program, RSDP, which is focused on the restoration of the road network to an acceptable condition.
Specifically, the program focused on (1) rehabilitation of main roads; (2) upgrading of main roads; (3) construction of new roads; and (4) regular maintenance on the network. Side by side, the program also considered major policy and institutional reforms.
The RSDP was launched with a very significant donor support to create adequate capacity in the road sector. This facilitated the economic recovery process through the restoration of essential road network. Accomplishment under the program is rather encouraging.
The investment on federal and regional roads would enhance the integration of domestic and external markets, contributing to growth of exports in terms of volume and international competitiveness.
In the rural areas of Ethiopia, road sector expansion promoted agricultural growth and development through delivery of inputs and outputs. Agricultural inputs, such as improved seeds, fertilizers, farming implements, tractors, combine-harvesters and other implements were transported on new and rehabilitated roads. These roads also served in taking agricultural outputs to the urban areas for distribution to local and external markets.
The link between road transport and economic growth may be enhanced based on the reality of Ethiopia and the experience of some other countries. Ethiopia has registered growth in the last two decades, with road sector making contribution to it. In this regard, to sustain the growth performance of the economy, it is important to create a favorable road infrastructure.
Despite the government’s effort to expand road network, an important key indicator is accessibility, which is far below from what is needed to join the lower middle income countries. The issue of access is a challenge particularly for rural communities. Hence, this has to improve.
The recent trend shows that the government is showing strong commitment to expand and improve the current performance. Studies also show that the government has given sufficient attention in financing road projects.
The expenditure of the government has increased but not sufficiently. Donor assistance to the road sector does not complement the rising expenditure by the government on the expansion of the road network. Community roads are not given sufficient attention with regard to expansion, management, and accountability.
Experts suggest that ERA should design an easy way to get detailed information regarding community road networks. Future community road expansion or upgrading should be an integral part of the road networks that reflect the needs of the rural people.
Researches show the strong link between road length and economic growth. They also indicate that road network per worker is positively related with economic growth. The expansion of asphalt road has a positive influence on overall economic growth. Similarly, gravel road has a positive impact on economic growth.
The efforts made so far seem good to spur the overall economic growth of the country and will have a positive impact on the livelihood of the rural poor. However, the impact may not be strong on the agricultural development and on the growth of the GDP, unless the issue of accessibility to the rural poor is resolved.
The Ethiopian Herald February 18/2021
