Motorists take a beating from increased road user charges

Namibians will soon pay more to use the country’s roads.

The Ministry of Mines and Energy says the Road Fund Administration’s road user charges will increase by 25c per litre.

The new road charges will be N$2.23 – up from N$1.98 per litre

This is to fund the gap the RFA has been experiencing over the years, says RFA chief executive Ali Ipinge.

“It will help reduce the funding shortfall … to optimally fund road infrastructure,” he says.

The RFA last year proposed a 100c increase in fuel levies, a 20% increase in mass distance charges, 20% increase in cross-border charges, 20% increase in abnormal load charges, a 10% increase in road carrier permits and no increase in vehicle registration fees.

Ipinge says the increase would also help fund road maintenance programmes.

In November last year, he said the administration had a funding gap of N$3.6 billion, hampering its ability to keep funding road rehabilitation and maintenance.

The fund relies heavily on the collection of road user charges, fuel levies and cross-border charges to sustain its operations.

Ipinge said due to persistent underfunding over the years, no road assessment has been conducted since 2019.

The RFA said it would need N$77 million for network planning, N$1.43 billion for gravel roads, and N$900 million for paved roads.

It would also require about N$220 million for low-volume seals, and N$210 million for miscellaneous maintenance, while the Baynes Road alone would require N$250 million, and the Divundu-Mohembo road N$110 million.

The remainder of N$73 million would be allocated to the National Administration Traffic Information System (Natis).

Economist Omu Kakujaha-Matundu says the increase in charges is not steep and should be welcomed. He says although this means consumers would pay more, it would maintain good roads and lower vehicle maintenance costs.

“During Covid-19 and the serious economic crunch, the RFA levy was reduced, and they are just taking it up. As a consumer, that won’t be very nice, but for us to have good roads, we have to pay,” Kakujaha-Matundu says.

It is, however, not clear whether the decrease in petrol prices outweighs the increase in road user charges, he says.
“. . . just in terms of the impact on the consumer? That I cannot tell,” he says.