 Hey, somebody's village looks like somebody's capital It's not fair in Africa It's not fair It's not fair I just have to say this I read on the internet that Namibia got the best roads in Africa I never believed it until I got in here believe me inside the city. They go fantastic road as fat You will never see a single pot hole in the city, but I never knew that it cut across the entire country We've been driving for almost seven hundred kilometers from Vinduq. We are here in the north We are on our way to Oqpo, is it Oqpo? Yeah, where the Himba people live and I just have to confirm and cement that Namibia got the best roads in Africa Can you believe it like the whole road man? We've not encountered a single pot road You know, let me tell you something a fact that I think most of you don't know Even when you come to Namibia and you find a dirty road on Tad Road. It's so smooth When I say the best roads I mean the quality of road infrastructure remains on challenge Did you know that Namibia has been ranked best roads in Africa five times in a row? I guess you didn't know that so all you need to do to thank me by subscribing to my YouTube channel and help me reach 900,000 subscribers Don't forget to like this episode and also share so that other African countries can emulate Namibia On my last day in Namibia I wanted to know the people behind this great success and it led me to the road authority of Namibia I want to say a big shout out to Tio for linking me up with the CEO and the executive officer of engineering of the road authority of Namibia How proud? Do Namibians feel to know that they got the best roads in Africa. Do you guys feel proud at all? Yeah We are proud, but it's not we took it. It's no more It's no more. Yeah, and do you know the rank of Namibia in terms of the world? Yeah, 23rd Yeah, you're ahead of China. Yes, and which country are you ahead of again? UK or India? Yeah, and India What was the first ever road built in the country? The road between Wolf's Bay and Swakopmund is the oldest And from there you guys kept on moving and moving Yeah, before independence the road network was still good But then after independence the government has concentrated in funding huge road infrastructures and Also rural access Road There's there are specific targets just for rural Accessibility on behalf of all Africans want to say congratulations to the road authority in Namibia. I Mean, they didn't they didn't tell me to say this but I'm impressed because any time I travel within Africa I always want to use flights, but when I came to Namibia, I saved money Because I wanted to use road so I want to say on behalf of all Africans Congratulations, and what do you think other African countries can learn from Namibia? Just maybe to have the to stick to a performance management system The corruption to is another problem. Yeah, and No, no the whole of Africa should run away from corruption Is what am I a man African content creator from Ghana who is on a journey to tell positive stories about Africa and Namibia is my country number 22 And I got shocked when I got here because I've been hearing that Namibia got the best rules in Africa But I never believed it until I got in here And that is why I really had to come and find out how did Namibia do it because I believe that the entire Continent needs to learn from Namibia So if you can help me introduce yourself, then you tell me who you are before you answer my question for me. Thank you My name is Rauna Nilao Hamwa. I'm a civil engineer by profession and I am the executive officer for engineering In the Rhodes Authority of Namibia How did Namibia achieve this success in terms of roads? It's huge investment from government the government invest a lot of money in to the road infrastructure and We have a dedicated team of managers. We are road managers because the The mission of the Rhodes Authority or the objective of the existence of the Rhodes Authority is to manage in a safe and efficient road network So we concentrate in efficiency and safety As far as our success story is concerned Is that this this really comes from The policy which was undertaken by our government In late 90s where I Went through a road center reform and that the road center reform Created the establishment or established the Authority of Namibia to manage the national And also at the same time It created the road fund administration to fund the operations Of the management That's where we started so this operation started in 2000 And then from there, of course, we started making Rosenthal was created and with emphasis dedicated to ensure that the Management of the road network from the maintenance the rehabilitation the planning the construction of new ones both Benjamin's standards as well as the That's where really the the success is started, but also as we moved we really looked at a very very focused strategy where we then balanced the Mentalists as well as the New development, especially our effect, you know most of our countries Road network as a pattern of any economy is the failure is mostly if you neglect maintenance So what we have done? We then really focused our strategy in ensuring that we maintain our roads As we proceed or as we continue Building new ones as a strategy, of course that strategy will not be carried if you do not have an effective leadership governance framework people themselves innovation is competent stuff and then Only then our competing stuff, but also creating the capacity within the country To be able to obtain or get the value for money. So this is really what what has pushed us to Be proud today that we are at number one in Africa to have a good or So we might help you and we would also want to share our experiences We want to know like every year annually how much money does the government invest in roads in the country? over two billion amoebian dollars every year and since the formation of the road sociology or its operation in 2000 so far and the road partner administration has invested more than 20 billion amoebian dollars in the road infrastructure and what kind of measures does the government put in place to make sure that the engineers are constructing the road because some of us where we from the government will give the money and at the end of the day The work is not done yet But when I came to Namibia even port holes people are fixing it has the government put in place any What do you call it any? Measurement to ensure that people are really working on the road in the country Yeah, we have a very strict performance management system It's it's all about KPIs It's all about KPIs Key performance indicators you have to always Achieve your KPIs. Do you guys have Time range for contractors to finish a particular road? Yes If we say 36 months, it should be 36 months Anything outside that we may impose penalties According to the contract analyze those who don't perform Give them a contract and they don't finish it. But what is the worst penalty you will ever give a contractor who never finished? There's a certain formula. I say not more than a certain percentage of the Whole contract and you pay Until that maximum This will keep them in check It's amazing. What about like and if you perform the police is called the bonus and penalties If you over perform quality and time wise we give you a bonus This is beautiful. What about the um people who does the maintenance? Is it a particular company or it's all coming from the road authority? We Look I will talk about the engineering services that I had. Okay There we have network planning It's a department a division network planning It has to do with The project planning budgeting feasibility studies Then it goes to another division called network development which is now going to like Benson from network development and is the project control engineer of this project Then there's network maintenance. It's another division. Yes, and there is technical services that hosts road management system laboratory services training unit and R&D research and development. Yeah R&D I'm gonna know what was the longest route in the country Be it's it's known Touristically is known as B1 B1 B1. It connects. It's from the border with South Africa Until the other border of Angola But it has sections we in the road authority. We know it's run road one stroke one one stroke two, but it's all B1 We have a medium to lump them road master plan And all the roads in Namibia are in that master plan If there are new roads to be identified, they will also end into that master plan We also have roads boards Every region of Namibia has a road a roads board Wow constituted by people from the community who represent their roads And who represent the problems on the roads then bring them to the minister of works and transport And the minister will then direct the road authority You do this Implement this project and do this and this or put them in the master plan if there are new roads And this one was also has been in the master plan and it was it was planned in the 70s 1970s This was planned in the 70s. Yes, because there is a road going to the airport But because of the development of the town windows expanding we have certain rules to the conveyance Conveyance roads because we have access roads and conveyance roads So you may not branch off this road if it's a conveyance road a trunk road Now that one of the developments are going until the airport we have to abandon that as a trunk road Because it was already planned ahead of time ahead of time that will if The town grows towards the airport then this will be the new road But now the town is going close to the airport Yes Projecting the new road from here to the airport So that that road can save as a step up road To those residents and businesses that people living around Yeah, and this one is a conveyance road That is a road close because that's where the road used to end And now another road can continue the road We also want to know what are the advantages of having a good road in Namibia? The total transportation cost Is reduced Because you don't will not have to change much of your tires and your spare parts and your time Your safe time and that constitutes the total transportation cost that we can also Use a new car for so long. Yes So apart from the advantages there should be disadvantages of having a good road Yeah, a good road also brings out bad attitudes and drivers They are not careful because nothing will stop them from speeding They don't obey the rules of the road because the road is too good And they just speed off or Don't comply with the rules of the road And we have many many accidents in Namibia. I think Namibia is one Maybe the first country in the world with a lot of accidents How can good roads cause accidents? Just attitude attitude because the the the safety the road safety is 3e Is engineering Enforcement and education Are you know we have safety campaigns to try to educate people Maybe we are weak on the side of enforcement of the rules of the road Engineering as you can see the roads are very good engineered And education we really try But maybe we are weak on enforcement. I thought bad roads bring bad accident Like it brings a lot of accidents, but I never knew that Good roads actually cause more accidents. They do Now I know when the three is are not working together So we need to enforce Educate And All the road authorities in various African countries definitely going to watch this video because I'm going to tell them to tag their road authority ministers They'll be watching if you have a message for them. What would that message mean? Yeah, the the message is is that Really for us Africa It's quite a very important country We do have the capacity to manage our continent But in order for us to do that poverty is still a problem and Fortunately or unfortunately most of the trade Issues in Africa take place through the road network And therefore it's important that we really Dedicate our effort to improve our network. The first thing is let's take care of what we have Maintenance is is key a good governance It's key leadership It's key and of course Let's find a way of sustaining this right through an effective funding models most of the African continent countries now They have tend to the road user funding models where many of Countries have created road fun road fun or road maintenance Agencies to fund that I think that's the way to go but the the the support and the and the long-term Vision of our governments It's very very critical In order to achieve that because if you don't have the support of the political leadership the government The community Then you you have problem to mobilize what you what you want. That's that's the message to My colleagues. Thank you. I want to say thank you so much for talking to me But is there anything that you really want to say about roti Namibia that I never asked you But there's something that you think people need to know Well, we have a network of 48,900 kilometers 8,900 tired roads right now Because of the economic situation not of Namibia, but of the whole world We are moving to The low volume seal. We have a program for low volume seals sealing the gravel roads Just to put the slurry seal. Okay, so that we tuck in the dust And we make it easy for those the users of gravel roads I want to say thank you so much for talking to me and I really appreciate your time