For its first meeting of the year 2025, the ARMFA Southern Africa Focal Group (ASAFG) zoomed on the future of road maintenance with electric vehicles and emerging technologies, so as to assess Road Funds’ relevance amidst the changing environment. The three- day meeting was hosted by the Road Fund in Antananarivo, Madagascar from April 14 to 16, 2025.
Officiating the meeting, the Minister of Public Works in Madagascar Mr. Richard Rafidison commended ASAFG for the choice of a very relevant theme, which he said came at an opportune time when the road sector landscape is evolving rapidly, thereby calling on road maintenance issues to evolve just as quickly.
He said the sustainability of road maintenance remains the key function of Road Funds, thereby challenging the ASAFG members to come up with innovative and workable solutions for maintaining the roads in the era of electric vehicles and emerging technologies, adding that the task demands vision, investment and continued collaboration.
The Chairperson of ASAFG and Road Fund Lesotho CEO Mrs. ‘Matšepang Sekhokoane reiterated that traditionally, road maintenance has been funded through fuel levies, a system that worked and made sense for decades. She added that that the more fuel one used, the more they contributed to the upkeep of the roads they drove on; but as electric vehicles rise in popularity, the limitations of this model have become clear.
Mrs. Sekhokoane indicated that if electric vehicles do not contribute to fuel levies, they would still use the same roads, experience the same wear and tear, and require the same level of infrastructure maintenance, explaining that this creates an imbalance, a funding gap that threatens the sustainability of the existing road systems.
“To address this, we must embrace innovation not just in technology, but also in Strategy and Policy. I encourage us to work together across sectors, across technologies and across borders to create a system where every road user contributes fairly and where our infrastructure is funded, maintained and ready for use even in these changing times,” she reiterated.
At the meeting, various members presented their country situations regarding road maintenance in the wake of emerging technologies, where intriguing discussions emanated. It became apparent that the road sector, like many others, is evolving and change needs to be embraced and nurtured for continuity of the mandate of Road Funds at country level and at regional level.
The meeting was attended by Road Funds in the region namely Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Madagascar as the host.
ASAFG is the Southern Africa arm of the African Road Maintenance Funds Association (ARMFA) which was established in 2003 as a platform and a network for experience and information sharing on best road maintenance practices in Africa; to discuss and find opportunities on funding options and to promote and strengthen links between members of African Road Funds.
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Email: molekop@roadfund.org.ls
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