`Road Policy Reform in Africa' was the theme of a special session of the 1991 PIARC Conference in Marrakech. During that session, the serious deterioration of Africa's roads was detailed, and the early results of the Road Maintenance Initiative (RMI), an international effort to address this problem were, presented. The RMI was launched by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) and the World Bank under the auspices of the Sub-Saharan African Transport Policy Program (SSATP), in an effort to identify the underlying causes of poor road maintenance policies and develop an agenda for reforming them. The program is administered by the Africa Technical Department in the World Bank and is financed by the governments of Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the EU. The Netherlands, Japan and UK have recently decided to join the program. Participating African countries include seven active core countries: Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe; and two inactive core countries: Nigeria and Rwanda. In addition Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Togo participate as associate or resource countries. One of the program's hallmarks has been an endeavour to collect regular feedback on its impact, and reorient its activities in light of experience. The diagnosis of the problem that emerged during Phase I has evolved over time and Phase II has produced several new insights. This paper will report on progress in road maintenance, rehabilitation and policy reform throughout Africa since 1991 and on the evolution of the RMI message during the second phase. (A)
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