A monitoring and evaluation (M&E) system is an essential element of the planning, design and implementation of rural transport projects and is useful in assessing whether projects achieve their strategic and development objectives. However, tracking results and being able to use them for future planning is a big challenge for developing and improving rural transport in Africa. There is a lack of evidence on both the development impacts of rural transport improvements and more importantly the benefits they bring to the rural poor.

Trade and transport corridors are complex entities that have been defined as ‘a coordinated bundle of transport and logistics infrastructure and services that facilitates trade and transport flows between major centers of economic activity’. From a trader’s perspective, corridor efficiency and performance is all about cost, time and predictability associated with the seamless movement of freight along the corridors. In other words, corridor efficiency is all about the multiple dimensions of efficient logistics.

When one thinks of border crossing in Africa, the image that comes in mind is that of a long queue of trucks waiting idly to fill out paper. The improvement of road infrastructure was expected to reduce transport costs and prices. However, all the benefits derived by this achievement are undermined by time lost at the border. In the last decade, several border posts on main trade corridors in Africa have been converted into One Stop Border Posts (OSBP), which have been perceived as a miracle solution to save time.

When The African continent has been making regular headlines with double digits growth economies, an emerging middle class, an explosion in mobile communications, and huge untapped mineral resources. Still, the spread of this new wealth is slow and the benefits of this significant growth are marred by persistent structural issues, among them and often cited is the poor level of infrastructures. Road, rail and port network is still ill adapted to the continent expansion and the regional economic development.

Most African countries are faced with substantial challenges to meet their needs for road maintenance, rehabilitation and construction through public financing. The underfunding problems are not likely to be solved completely without increased participation from private sector investors. Thus in 2012 the SSATP member countries expressed the need for informed policy advice on private sector involvement in road financing, provision and management with focus on Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs).

Africa is currently experiencing the highest per capita rate of road fatalities in the world. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the rate of road traffic deaths at 24.1 per 100,000 people in Africa. By comparison, this rate is 18.5 in Asia and 10.3 in Europe. The problem is set to worsen. According to projections by WHO, road fatalities in sub-Saharan Africa will increase by 112%, from approximately 243,000 in 2015 to 514,000 in 2030.

The paper provides a framework that will help policy makers in Africa to move from stand-alone rural transport policies to comprehensive and integrated policies, positioning rural transport within the framework of rural development, and ensuring strong linkages with other key sectors. Of particular emphasis is the linkage between rural transport with actions to improve agricultural productivity, rural growth and poverty reduction. This paper has been developed from analytical work using lessons from experience in Africa and other continents.

Some 20 Road Authorities have been established in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), most since 2000. These agencies were created broadly in line with the principles espoused in the Road Management Initiative (RMI), a component of the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP). The agencies were established with the main objective of being more consumer-oriented and market-responsive than the largely politically driven, traditional government Road Agencies.

Endemic overloading of commercial vehicles has led to the deterioration of roads in most Sub-Saharan African countries. Unless the problem is taken seriously, there is no doubt that it will negate the benefits expected from the vast resources invested in road infrastructure improvements. All the sub-regions in Africa are keen to identify effective solutions. As a contribution to this effort, the SSATP has worked with some of the regional economic communities, individual countries and the private sector to compile a set of guidelines.

The purpose of this framework document or guidance note is to highlight possible options for the formulation of a pro-growth, pro-poor transport strategy (PGPTS), an essential instrument to promote the transport sector as a key role to facilitate economic growth and poverty reduction. The paper defines the principal elements of a PGPTS and identifies interventions that allow transport to play this facilitation role.