Project Evaluation
Summaries
Prepared by the Policy, Planning and Evaluation Unit (PPEU)
Central African Republic
I. Basic Project Data
| Project Number: |
CAF/82/C01 with CAF/83/008 |
| Project Title: |
Rural Roads Improvement Repair of Engineering Works |
| UN Cooperating Agency: | OPS |
| Govt. Executing Agency: |
Ministry of Public Works Division of Rural Roads |
| Sector: | Transport & Communication (060) |
| Sub-Sector: | Land Transport (0630) |
| UNCDF Budget: | US$ 2,333,000 |
| UNDP Budget: | 823,000 |
| Gov't. Budget: | 949,910 |
| Total Budget: | 4,105,910 |
|
Actual Total Expenditures at Evaluation: |
6,196,295 |
| Date Project Approved: |
May 1983
|
| Date Project Began: |
Dec 1984
|
| Date Project Evaluated: |
May 1994
|
| Type of Evaluation: |
Final
|
II. Background
At the time the project was formulated, like most of the Central African Republic the concerned area suffered from serious internal isolation. The main axis, the Yaloke-Bolay road, was cut due to a lack of maintenance over a long period of time. Moreover, the rural roads were either impassable at all times, or barely passable to four-wheel-drive vehicles in the dry season and impassable to all in the rainy season. Because the population of the Central African Republic is dispersed, provision of social equipment and services stagnated as a result of this inaccessibility. The Government of the Central African Republic embarked on two projects to construct and improve secondary and rural roads and to rehabilitate road structures under force account with inputs from UNCDF and UNDP.
III. The Project
The project was initiated in order to assist the "Direction dos Travaux Publics" and the "Direction du Genie Rural" in implementing a road rehabilitation program in the Lobaye and Ombella-M'Poko regions by providing human, technical and financial assistance, including access to external complementary financing.
The project's main and immediate objective at the time of formulation was to construct the following:
- 188 kms of secondary roads
- 312 kms of rural roads
- 225 linear meters of road structures (bridges and culverts)
These works were to be completed under force account within three years. However, this objective was revised in view of the problems that arose in the project's early stages. The goal was adjusted from a total of 500 kms of roads to be constructed to 343 kms and later to 243 kms. Roads maintenance was to be carried out with the participation of the local population and the Division of Rural Roads. The broader objective of the project was to help reduce the cost of construction and maintenance of secondary and rural roads; to maximize use of available local resources and thus reduce the weight of construction and maintenance on the national budget; and to put in infrastructure required by the national plan for economic progress.
IV. Purpose of the Evaluation
The purpose of the Mission was to evaluate the project, particularly the concept, execution, results, efficacy, and socio-economic impact, both regional and subregional, on direct and indirect beneficiaries.
V. Findings of the Evaluation Mission
Construction: The overall results of the project were found to be satisfactory. 254 kms of rural roads had been constructed, against the revised projection of 253 kms, at a reasonable cost and according to very acceptable standards. However, the Mission noted that the results would have been better if some external factors had been more tightly assessed at the project formulation stage. For example, the Government's financial, personnel and operational contributions were all overestimated. And objectives given to the construction unit ("Cellules Pistes Rurales") were too ambitious given the human and financial means available to them. Yet despite a higher then expected cost per kilometer, the project showed a positive internal rate of return.
Technical Assistance: Setting up the proper technical assistance at the beginning of the project proved difficult because of local personnel selection, where capabilities and experience for this kind of work were overestimated. The position of mechanical expert was too often filled by persons whose competence and ability were poorly evaluated, although the construction unit personnel ware well trained by the project.
Equipment: Some of the heavy equipment chosen did not match the type and volume of work to be done. Additional equipment that was procured to help the construction unit meat its deadlines was delivered too late. Moreover, disparities in equipment-makes hampered procurement of spare parts and maintenance.
Operation and Maintenance: While the Government was to bear responsibility for road maintenance, it was foreseeable that they would not have the necessary funds to do so.
Impact: A lack of baseline data made precise quantification of impact difficult. However, the Mission did note that the project area (Lobaye and Ombella-M'Poko regions) received important socio-economic benefits from the project. In comparison with the rest of the country, agricultural production in the two project areas developed by a significantly greater amount between 1985 and 1990. Roads built opened up the project area, improving access to key commercial centers and to social facilities and services, promoting human settlement in rural areas, and consequently reducing migration to cities. Where traffic had been sporadic before, after the project it regularized, with carrier-traders offering at least daily access to market cities, thus facilitating the marketing of agricultural products. An important part of the population - those served by the carrier-traders - had thereby entered the monetary circuit.
Overall the project design was found to be sound, although the objectives given to the "Cellules Pistes Rurals" (the construction unit) were too ambitious, in light of the human and financial means available.
VI. Recommendations
The problems experienced by this project resulted primarily from a lack of rigorous planning and from an over-estimation of results relative to the means. The Mission therefore made the following tour recommendations to help avoid such problems:
- Limit the number of kilometers of road to be constructed to a maximum of 300 km and insure that the project does not spread into other areas, even if these are related to the transport sector.
- Rural road rehabilitation projects should be awarded to the private sector. Although this should be preceded by a survey of the private sector as well as technical studies to allow correct quantity estimates which are required for contracts on a unit-price basis.
- Provide a well defined post-project maintenance provision covering a period of up to five years so that sufficient socio-economic benefits can materialize, generating self-interest in project maintenance. This maintenance should be essentially manual, and implemented and managed by local nongovernmental organizations.
- If the project is to include government inputs, they should be set up in such a way that their timely delivery is ensured. If possible, conditional clauses to this effect should be included.
VII. Policy Implications and Lessons Learned
A thorough formulation study is essential to this type of project. Special attention must be paid to guaranteeing sufficient qualified personnel, adequate financial means, proper choice of machinery in relation to type of work to be done, autonomy and assessment of national inputs in relation to capabilities. Finally, care should be given to the choice of technical solutions in accordance with their cost and expected benefits.
VIII. Evaluation Team
The Evaluation
team was comprised of Joseph A. Pagnotta, roads engineer and Benoit
Savard, economist.
