The Roads Authority of Namibia expects to complete its Freeway Project by May 2024 while the Windhoek-Okahandja Road, which has been under construction since January 2016, is expected to be operational by the end of August 2023.
“We are happy with the progress as indicated. We plan to complete this project by May 2024. It’s a Harambee Prosperity Plan project. So, all our capital major projects will be completed by next year. Now, by August or the end of August, we plan to open the section from Omakunde interchange to Gross Barmen interchange so that people can start enjoying the use of this road,” Roads Authority CEO Conrad Lutombi said during a project tour.
He said despite some budgetary constraints, the projects are expected to be completed within the N$3-billion budget.
“The initial first section, what we call section three, was about N$500 million, which we did not exceed the budget. And section four A was about a billion. Again, we spent within the and this one is about so far, we have spent about N$800 million somewhere and we are still within the budget,” Lutombi said.
He said the Okahandja-Windhoek Road was initially set to be completed in 2020, but the Covid-19 pandemic as well as budgetary constraints caused delays in construction.
“We have had a number of challenges, one of them was because of Covid times, and we had to suspend the work or slow it down. The other challenge is of course that this is a big project which requires a large amount of funding but we are happy that in this financial year, we have received adequate funding,” Lutombi stated.
The project is funded wholly by the government of Namibia, while the construction is shared between Otesa, a local company owning 60% of the tender as well as an international company Cooperativa Muratori Cementisti Ravenna owning 40%.
Other phases of the project include a Windhoek-Rehoboth freeway, Omuthiya-Ondangwa freeway, and Walvis Bay-Swakopmund freeway and Ongangwa-Oshakati freeway.
This comes as the Roads Authority launched a N$15 billion five-year Integrated Strategic Business Plan (ISBP) in May, which seeks to expand the national road network as well as upgrade gravel roads to bitumen standards.
The authority plans to construct and upgrade 700km to bitumen standard, 215km of gravel road, rehabilitate 715km, and re-gravel 2,800km, as well as rejuvenate 635km to low seal bitumen standard.
The ISBP funds will be sourced from the Road Fund Administration (RFA) which will provide N$10.27 billion, and an additional N$1.22 billion through loans and grants, whereas the government will provide funding of N$2.78 billion over the five-year duration ending in 2026/27.
According to the RFA, Namibia’s road network is valued at N$101 billion, of which about 83% is unpaved.
