Business Insider Africa earlier reported how good roads are arteries through which the economy pulses. The focus was on 10 African countries with the best road infrastructure.
Despite its economic importance, some African countries have road infrastructure issues. Across various regions, the struggle with inadequate road infrastructure casts a shadow over economic prospects and societal well-being.
An International Monetary Fund working papers on road quality and mean speed score reveals to what extent some African nations are facing challenges in their road infrastructure.
The IMF developed a novel measure of cross-country road quality based on the mean speed between large cities from Google Maps. This Mean Speed (MS) score serves as an effective proxy for evaluating road quality and accessibility.
The MS score correlates with the existing World Bank’s Rural Access Index and the WEF’s Quality of Road Infrastructure score.
Below are 10 African countries with the worst road infrastructure:
| Rank | Country | Mean score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rwanda | 47 |
| 2 | Guinea | 50 |
| 3 | Burundi | 51 |
| 4 | Madagascar | 51 |
| 5 | Gambia | 53 |
| 6 | Nigeria | 55 |
| 7 | Ghana | 56 |
| 8 | Cameroon | 56 |
| 9 | Tanzania | 57 |
| 10 | Kenya | 57 |