
South Africa ranks sixth among its African peers when it comes to the quality of its roads.
The countries of Namibia, Rwanda, Egypt, Morocco, and eSwatini all come out ahead of Mzansi, as per data from the World Bank’s Road Quality Index.
Road quality is a crucial part of a nation’s infrastructure regardless of where it is, however, some countries have better roads than others.
Therefore, to determine the territory with the best vehicle networks in the world, the World Bank created a Roads Quality Index which bestows a QRI score upon dozens of countries around the globe.
The QRI rating was determined after a survey was conducted that involved business leaders from 144 countries and their opinions on roadways around the world.
These invididuals were asked to rate the quality of roads on a scale from one (underdeveloped) to seven (extensive and efficient by international standards).
On the African continent, the World Bank questioned people from 26 individual regions.
The entity has also come up with what it calls a “Mean Speed Score” (MSS).
This is a measure of cross-country road quality based on the travel time between large cities, according to Google Maps.
The MSS acts as a proxy for road quality and access, with a higher score indicating better cross-country road quality.
African asphalt
Namibia sits on top as the African country with the best roads, boasting a QRI score of 5.09 out of a maximum of seven.
It is followed by Rwanda with 4.70, Egypt with 4.52, Morocco with 4.48, and landlocked eSwatini with 4.30.
South Africa then comes in at sixth with a rating of 4.27. It is tailed by Kenya at 4.22 and Senegal at 3.75.
The score suggests that while our home may not be the top African nation in terms of the calibre of its roads, it’s still above average in the grander scheme of things.
Meanwhile, South Africa boasts an MSS of 100, the highest on the continent.
This allows it to join the rather exclusive 100+ club alongside several first-world economies.
Its peers include the United States with an MSS of 107; Canada, Portugal, and Saudi Arabia with 106 each; France with 105; Spain with 103; and Oman with 102.
Namibia has the second-highest MSS among African regions at 99, with Morocco completing the rostrum with 95.
The table below details the Road Quality Index and Mean Speed Score for the 26 African countries in the World Bank dataset:
Country | QRI | MSS |
---|---|---|
Namibia | 5.09 | 99 |
Rwanda | 4.70 | 47 |
Egypt | 4.52 | 83 |
Morocco | 4.48 | 95 |
Eswatini | 4.30 | 69 |
South Africa | 4.27 | 100 |
Kenya | 4.22 | 57 |
Senegal | 3.75 | 71 |
Tanzania | 3.74 | 57 |
Botswana | 3.64 | 91 |
Algeria | 3.57 | 88 |
Uganda | 3.53 | 64 |
Ghana | 3.48 | 56 |
Mali | 3.43 | 72 |
Zambia | 3.38 | 73 |
Ethiopia | 3.27 | 61 |
Burundi | 2.96 | 51 |
Benin | 2.86 | 63 |
Malawi | 2.86 | 75 |
Cameroon | 2.80 | 56 |
Zimbabwe | 2.73 | 83 |
Lesotho | 2.41 | 60 |
Nigeria | 2.40 | 55 |
Mozambique | 2.37 | 78 |
Guinea | 2.25 | 50 |
Democratic Republic of the Congo | 2.09 | 62 |
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