ECA to Present Report on EU Contribution to a Sustainable Road Network in Sub-Saharan Africa

By staff writer

BRUSSELS, – European Court of Auditors (ECA) will on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 at the International Press Centre Maalbek room in Brussels – Belgium present main conclusions and recommendations of the report on the EU contribution to a sustainable road network in sub-Saharan Africa.

ECA special reports are published throughout the year, presenting the results of selected audits of specific EU budgetary areas or management topics. This special report (SR 17/2012) entitled “The European Development Fund (EDF) contribution to a sustainable road network in sub-Saharan Africa” assessed whether the EDF(European Development Fund)  has contributed to sustainability of the road network in sub-Saharan Africa effectively: whether the road infrastructure supported by the EDF is sustainable and whether the Commission effectively promotes the sustainability of road infrastructure. The audit focused on the technical, financial and institutional sustainability of road transport infrastructure and looked at 48 programmes financed since 1995 under the 8th, 9th and 10th EDFs in six partner countries: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chad, Tanzania and Zambia.

The EU is one of the leading donors in the road sector in sub- Saharan Africa. Road transport is a focal sector for EDF cooperation strategy with most sub-Saharan African countries. Financially, it is by far the most important sector, with about € 7.4 billion in EDF commitments made in this region over the period from 1995 to 2011.