The Road Fund Administration (RFA) has projected a budget shortfall of more than N$3 billion for the 2025/2026 financial year, mainly affecting the maintenance, construction, and rehabilitation of Namibia’s national and urban road networks.
RFA Chief Executive Officer Ali Ipinge said the total funding required to maintain, construct, and rehabilitate Namibia’s full road network across both national and local levels is estimated at N$8.8 billion.
He said the RFA expects to raise about N$4.2 billion through road user charges, while the government is expected to contribute between N$1.3 billion and N$1.5 billion, leaving a funding gap of roughly N$3.1 billion to N$3.3 billion.
“So that is a gap we are talking about. That is a deficit. But of course, what it also means is that if we do not claw back that deficit over time, we are going to see that we are underspending or underinvesting in road infrastructure,” Ipinge said.
The shortfall, according to Ipinge ,is expected to impact the lifespan and quality of key corridor routes and urban streets, many of which require full rehabilitation.
Ipinge said roads that have reached or exceeded their design lifespan will deteriorate faster without sufficient funding.
“The local authorities are also having the same exact challenges. Some of the key routes or streets in urban areas countrywide need full rehabilitation because they have outlived their lifespan. So that is a challenge,” he said.
To address the short-term funding gap, the RFA, according to Ipinge, is considering adjustments to road user charges, including fuel levies, vehicle licensing fees, mass distance charges, and cross-border tariffs. Ipinge said these measures aim to help close the gap in the near term.
“In the medium to long term, you need to have other streams rather than just the current legislated road user charges. So we are saying we want to see a situation where the country, the government and of course the road users start to rethink and look at what the alternatives are,” he said.
Proposed alternatives include tolling and distance-based charges for all vehicle classes ,not just heavy vehicles, to ensure fairer contributions to road maintenance.
Ipinge said such models have been implemented successfully elsewhere in Africa and globally.
“The alternatives include looking at new streams such as tolling. It has been used globally and even within SADC to efficiently fund road infrastructure maintenance. It’s not a foreign or new concept, but we believe that this is the way to go from the Road Fund side,” Ipinge said.
He added that the government could also increase direct funding for key maintenance and rehabilitation programmes to help reduce the funding shortfall.
On the possible introduction of toll gates, Ipinge said the matter is still under consultation with policy decision-makers.
“So far as the toll gates are concerned, it’s still a work in progress, and we are in consultation with the government at the moment. In terms of a timeline, we will only be able to say for certain once we hear from the policy decision-makers,” he said.
