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272 Diagnosing Corruption in Ethiopia
Rural Roads
Any consideration of unit costs of rural roads is complicated by an
unusual (compared with other countries in the region) arrangement
whereby the bulk of experience still relates to “own force” activities
rather than to private contractors. As a result, some client officials may
retain the perception that they have the right to exercise direct control
over private contractors rather than work through due contractual processes.
A further distinction needs to be made between labor-based (LB)
works (where the bulk of earthworks and finishing is carried out by
manual labor) and equipment-based (EB) works (involving the use of
heavy machinery such as dozers and graders).
The available primary data on rural roads in Ethiopia are limited and
not always internally consistent. For the purposes of this study, secondary
sources have therefore been used, including a recently completed study
of unit costs based on an analysis of data from 100 road projects in Tigray
and Oromiya, which include some relatively mountainous terrain (Taylor
et al. 2008). Unless otherwise stated, all rural road costs relate to gravel
(unsealed) roads.
As shown in figure 6.3, the average cost of LB gravel road construction
in Ethiopia is higher than in Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia but lower than
in Lesotho. This is plausible and broadly consistent with the degree to
which mountainous terrain is likely to be encountered.
Figure 6.4 presents comparative data for costs of EB, low-volume
gravel road construction in Ethiopia, Lesotho, and Uganda. 12 The first
Figure 6.3 Comparative Cost of Labor-Based Gravel Road Construction, Ethiopia
and Selected Countries
US$ per km, thousands
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Uganda Zambia Kenya Ethiopia Lesotho
country
Source: Author’s analysis of data from Taylor et al. 2008.
Note: km = kilometer.