By DELPHINE ZULU –
THE African Road Maintenance Funds Association (ARMFA) has called for measures to come up with funding options aimed at bridging the financial gaps in road maintenance, construction and rehabilitation.
ARMFA chairperson Anthony  Mwanaumo, who is also National Road Fund Agency (NRFA) chief executive officer, said the matter was urgent as it would help bridge the financial gaps in the three areas.
Dr Mwanaumo said the importance of road funds in Africa could not be overlooked as it was a catalyst for economic development around the continent through the provision of road sector finances resulting in quality road networks.
“The continental body is headed by Zambia through me. It has a decentralised governance structure divided into four focal groups drawn from African regions – Central Africa, East Africa, Southern
Africa and West Africa. We meet regularly to share regional experiences, success and challenges in the fiduciary management of road sector finances,” he said.
Dr Mwanaumo called for increased investment in research to help find solutions for sustainable road financing.
He was speaking when his entourage paid a courtesy call on Minister of Infrastructure and Public Works Fridolin Kasweshi Musoka in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Dr Mwanaumo said this in a statement issued by NRFA spokesperson, Alphonsius Hamachila in Lusaka yesterday.
He called on the DRC Road Fund executive committee to provide leadership and showcase the association’s technical expertise within the agreed theme, and resolve to grow from ARMFA members’ own resources.
Mr Musoka said ARMFA should devise working strategies aimed at reducing unit costs in road maintenance, construction and rehabilitation in member countries so that more roads
could be worked on, from the same amount of money currently being spent on road works.
ARMFA is a legal, non-political, non-profit-making association whose objective is to develop a network for the exchange of experiences and information on the best practices of financing road maintenance in
Africa among its 34 member countries.
The ARMFA executive committee, which comprises road fund bodies from Zambia, DRC, Mozambique, Ghana, Ethiopia, Cameroun, Zimbabwe and Ivory Coast, met in Kinshasa to prepare for the hosting of the 14th ARMFA Annual General Assembly in November this year under the theme ‘Using what we have to achieve what we need’.
ARMFA executive committee officer in Kinshasa, Andre Kimbuta, governor of Kinshasa Province, urged the road fund association to not only provide finances for road infrastructure development, but to ensure value for money.
Mr Kimbuta said the DRC Road Fund had helped transform the city of Kinshasa by the prudent allocation of the needed resources and ensuring that those resources were used for the intended purpose.
He called on ARMFA delegates to live by the theme of the upcoming 14th ARMFA Annual General Assembly by using all requisites in their reach to broaden the revenue base for road maintenance.