The Kenyan Roads Board (Amendment) Bill, 2024, a key part of the newly passed Kenya Tax (Amendment) Bill 2024, has lessons for Nigeria’s Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) on how to maintain the nation’s roads. The Kenya Roads Board (KRB) was established in 2000 to address challenges in the road sector and ensure effective management of road infrastructure. KRB’s primary mandate is to oversee the road network in Kenya, coordinating its development, rehabilitation, and maintenance, and serving as the principal adviser to the government on related matters.
The Kenya Roads Board is funded by the Road Maintenance Levy, a charge on petrol and diesel, collected at the point of fuel importation or delivery from refineries, with oil marketers and importers responsible for payment. The levy, which increased from Kshs 18 (NGN 215.64) to Kshs 25 NGN 299.50 per litre in July 2024, is paid to the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) and deposited into the Road Maintenance Levy Fund (RMLF). Registered remitters maintain records of transactions and submit returns to the Ministry of Roads. The Kenya Roads Board (KRB) oversees the allocation of these funds to road agencies for maintenance and rehabilitation projects across the country, ensuring transparency and accountability.
The Kenya Roads Board distributes the Road Maintenance Levy Fund to designated road agencies based on a five-year road investment programme approved by the relevant Cabinet Secretaries. The allocations are as follows:
- 40% to the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) for international and national trunk roads.
- 32% to the Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) for rural roads.
- 15% to the Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) for urban roads.
- 10% administered by the Minister for Roads.
- 1% to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) for roads within national parks and game reserves.
Since its formation in 2000, the Kenya Roads Board coordinates the functions of the Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) which is responsible for national highways, Kenya Rural Roads Authority (KeRRA) responsible for managing rural roads, Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) responsible for the management of urban roads and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) –which manages roads in wildlife conservation areas.
Constitution and Governance of the Kenyan Roads Board
The Kenya Roads Board (KRB) is governed by a Board of Directors comprising nine members. This includes four public sector representatives from the Ministry of Roads and Transport, the National Treasury, the Ministry of Devolution, and the Ministry of East African Community. The remaining five members are independent representatives nominated by key stakeholders, including the Kenya Transporters Association, the Automobile Association of Kenya, the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, the Engineers Board of Kenya, and the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya. This composition ensures a balanced representation of government and private sector interests in the management of Kenya’s road network.
The Kenya Roads Board (Amendment) Bill, 2024, has aligned the terminology in the Kenya Roads Board Act with the current constitutional framework by replacing references to “Minister” with “Cabinet Secretary.” Additionally, the law has reduced the membership of the Kenya Roads Board from 13 to 11 members.
Membership of the Road Board would now comprise five representatives of the private sector who ensure citizens are carried along in its decisions and six members from the government comprising the permanent secretaries of each road authority under the board, a Director General position to be filled through public advertising and a non-executive chairman to be appointed by the president.
The structure has ensured Kenya’s road networks remain in fairly good condition and enhanced road connectivity across the country, ensuring funds earmarked for road projects are utilized with a fair degree of efficiently. It has created jobs for Kenyan citizens.
Contrast to Nigeria’s Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA)
In Nigeria, there is a similar body to the Kenya Roads Board- the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA). It was established in 2002 under the Federal Ministry of Works and is tasked with the responsibility of maintaining and repairing federal roads in Nigeria.
State Ministries of Work and their local government counterparts are also tasked with maintaining roads under the purview of states and local governments respectively.
The major problem for FERMA in trying to maintain roads has been a total reliance on government subventions to finance road maintenance owing to the absence of a central tax/levy to fund road maintenance like in Kenya.
This lack of a dedicated pool of funds has meant Nigerian roads are almost always in bad shape due to poor maintenance and a lack of proper monitoring of road projects across the country’s vast road network.
Ranking Road Maintenance in Nigeria and Kenya Roads Against African Peers
Africa’s Top Performers in Road Quality To contextualize Kenya’s and Nigeria’s performance, it is essential to highlight Africa’s best-performing countries in road infrastructure. As of 2024, the top five African countries with the highest quality road infrastructure, based on business executives’ perceptions, are as follows:
- Namibia: Index score of 5.57
- Egypt: Index score of 5.53
- Benin: Index score of 5.00
- Rwanda: Index score of 4.86
- Mauritius: Index score of 4.80
These scores are measured on a scale from 1 (lowest) to 7 (highest), reflecting the condition and extensiveness of road infrastructure in each country. While neither Kenya nor Nigeria appears in the top five, the comparison with these countries provides an important reference point for understanding the state of their road networks.
Kenya vs. Nigeria: Road Quality Ratings In 2019, the Global Economy’s Road Quality Index rated Kenya’s roads at 4.1 out of 7, surpassing the global average of 4.07. This performance placed Kenya among the higher-ranking African countries for road quality. By contrast, Nigeria’s road quality was rated significantly lower, at 2.5 out of 7, highlighting the poor state of its road network. The large gap in these scores underscores a fundamental difference in road maintenance efforts between the two nations.
New Metrics: The IMF’s Mean Speed (MS) Score In 2023, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) introduced a new metric known as the Mean Speed (MS) score to assess the functional quality of road infrastructure. Unlike traditional condition-based indices, the MS score evaluates the efficiency of travel time across road networks.
According to this metric, Kenya achieved an MS score of 57, while Nigeria scored 55. Both countries rank on the lower end of the African spectrum. While the difference between Kenya and Nigeria’s scores is marginal, it aligns with broader trends observed in other indices, where Kenya’s road network tends to outperform Nigeria’s.
Current Rankings for 2024 According to 2024 data, Kenya ranks 8th in Africa for road quality, with an index score of 4.42 out of 7. On the other hand, Nigeria does not appear in the top 10 African countries for road quality. Kenya’s position reflects consistent progress in road maintenance and development, which has been a focus of government investment and donor-funded projects. Nigeria’s absence from the list highlights persistent challenges in infrastructure funding, maintenance, and governance.
Kenya’s road infrastructure benefits from significant funding from development partners like the World Bank and the African Development Bank, as well as effective public-private partnerships (PPPs) that enhance construction and maintenance. In contrast, Nigeria relies heavily on public sector funding, which is often limited by competing fiscal demands, and its slower adoption of PPPs has led to delayed projects. Nigeria’s adoption of PPPs in road infrastructure has been very slow, leading to a greater reliance on government funding and delayed project timelines.
Importantly, Kenya’s centralized road maintenance system, managed by agencies like the Kenya Roads Board, ensures greater efficiency, whereas Nigeria’s fragmented approach, involving multiple federal, state, and local agencies, results in inefficiencies and accountability gaps.
Nigeria’s Tax Reform Bill, Opportunity to Review the Funding of FERMA
The comparison between Kenya and Nigeria’s road maintenance and quality reveals stark differences in both approach and outcomes. Kenya has made consistent progress, earning it a top-10 spot in Africa’s road quality rankings. Nigeria, meanwhile, continues to grapple with chronic maintenance issues and underinvestment, which are reflected in its low index scores.
The Tax Reforms Bill is an opportunity for reviewing the funding of FERMA and road maintenance at different levels in the federation. Nigeria needs to consider the idea of a centralized fund for road maintenance which requires the design of a specific levy.
If Nigeria wants to bolster economic growth, improving road infrastructure must be a key priority. It is important to also adopt other elements of Kenya’s road development and maintenance strategies—especially Private-Public Partnerships.
