The Road Fund Administration (RFA) in Namibia has substantially increased its financial support for urban road networks, allocating a total of N$604 million for local authorities and regional councils in the 2025/26 financial year. This figure represents a significant N$170 million increase over the urban road maintenance amount disbursed during the preceding 2024 financial year, which saw total disbursements to all approved authorities and the Roads Authority (RA) reach N$3.29 billion. This additional funding is strategically targeted at stabilising critical municipal road infrastructure across the country, particularly for preventative maintenance and essential upgrades, despite the organisation grappling with broader revenue constraints.
The allocation reflects a thorough needs assessment process, drawing on data from the Road Asset Management System and annual budget consultations. Priority urban centres selected for rehabilitation programmes include Walvis Bay, Otjiwarongo, Tsumeb, and Katima Mulilo, alongside major capital city works. In Windhoek, the capital, funds are earmarked for key arterial routes such as Eneas Peter Nanyemba Road, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Road, and Auas Road. The selection criteria for these centres focused on critical factors like traffic volumes, economic activity, and the observed patterns of road deterioration identified during technical assessments, ensuring investment is channelled where the economic impact of improvements will be maximised.
The channelling of these funds adheres strictly to the RFA’s statutory mandate, as defined under the RFA Act, to secure and allocate sufficient funding for a safe and economically efficient road sector. Implementation of the projects will be collaboratively managed under existing agreements and in close coordination with the affected local authorities, with immediate prioritisation given to emergency repairs, resealing, and necessary rehabilitation works. For the 2025/26 cycle, the RA, which is responsible for national corridors, was allocated a separate sum of N$2.47 billion, with the majority, N$1.61 billion, dedicated to maintaining and rehabilitating priority national routes and expanding the low-volume road seal programme.
The need for increased funding is dramatically illustrated by the extensive damage caused by earlier severe weather events. Flood-related damage assessed in 2025 was estimated to cost a staggering N$1.285 billion to repair, with local authorities bearing the brunt of the cost at N$658 million, and Windhoek alone accounting for N$324 million of the total. The RFA has confirmed that emergency funding requests have been submitted to the Government to accelerate repairs and restore these critically damaged road sections, highlighting the need for national fiscal support beyond road user charges.
Despite the substantial increase in the urban road budget, the total allocated funds fall significantly short of the identified sectoral requirements. Approved authorities had submitted funding needs totalling N$8.4 billion for the 2025/26 financial year, of which N$8.2 billion was deemed compliant with the RFA’s investment criteria. However, due to inherent revenue constraints within the Road Fund, the total available allocation was severely limited to just N$3.7 billion. This shortfall underscores the persistent challenge faced by the Road Fund, which, according to a study published by the Southern African Transport Conference, often generates insufficient revenue from road user charges to meet the required demands of the national road network expenditure, thereby necessitating government subsidies to the sector.
Addressing the long-term maintenance deficit is crucial, especially considering that the City of Windhoek alone faced a road maintenance backlog estimated at N$2.67 billion between 2020 and 2025, according to a report by The Brief, demonstrating the scale of the ongoing challenge. While the RFA’s increased allocation is vital for immediate stabilisation and preventative work, the structural funding gap remains the primary impediment to comprehensively addressing the country’s decaying road assets and securing Namibia’s competitive advantage through robust infrastructure.
The strategic importance of these investments extends beyond infrastructure, as reliable road networks are fundamental to Namibia’s economic progress, supporting mobility and trade across the vast Southern African region.