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RESTRICTED Report No. TO-407a Public Disclosure Authorized This report was prepared for use within the Bank and its affiliated organizations. They do not accept responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The report may | not be published nor may it be quoted as representing their views. I.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION Public Disclosure Authorized APDDDATCAT OFW ROAD PROlJECT NIGER Public Disclosure Authorized June 8, 1964 Public Disclosure Authorized Department of Technical Operations GTURRE.mNGY ECQTjTVATENTS UJnit: Fzanc de la Corms-urnaute Financiere Africaine (CFA Franc) I CFA franc U.S. $0. 004 247 CFA francs U.S. $1 1 millionrt GFA frane TTUS. t4 051 U. S. $1 million 247 million CFA francs NIGERI APPRAISAL OF ROAD PROJECT Ta-bla of CGurtento S LJMTAIRY I. BITRODUCTION 1 TIT BACKGROUND INFORMATION 1 G<enev'al 1 Transport 1 Transprtri-+. Poli.Ptr c TTT THE ROCAn cqvCrP 1 C. iL.a , ..tt, 4. ,4 LJ;co.,~I. -- U J.J1 ..LU UL.. UL a..,VUL ~4.. .. 1) U± ILUWAQIJ.L 14 Administration of Roads 4 R4o aA V4.4.g;a5 Revenues 5 EI.AV1LU±L UU.J. Z;o Road Development Plans 6 D.uesiLgr.i St'anduardls ard Spec-" catic ons I Execut.ion of Construction 8 Roaud iLain terLcaLce 8 Ilv I H Pr, OtPElEur In rRZi Descri.ption 9 Status of Engineerirg 9 Cost cf the Project 10 Execution 11 Financing 12 V. ECONcRIC JUSTIFICATTON 13 VI, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMNDATIONS 16 TABLES 1. Number of Motor-Vehicles 1960-1962 2. Lengths of National Roads andc Classification, October 1963 3. Total Expenditure on Roads, from January 1, 1958 to March 31, 1963 4. Expenditure on Road Construction, from January 1, 1958 to M4arch 31, 1963 5. Road Fund-Triennial Appropriation Plan, 1961-1964 6, Design Standards 7. Estimated Savings on Goods Transport 8. Operating 'Cost per Km for a 9-ton Truck Under Different Road Conditians CHART: Organization of Ministry of Public Works MAPS: 1, 2 a:nd 3 NIGER ROAD PROJECT SU1YiARf The Government of Niger has requested IA to fminance a small road project with an estimated cost of US$'165 million equivalent. The proposed Credit would. be the first DDA Credit to Niger. ii, The Project involves two short roads in central Niger near the border of Nigeria0 The main purpose is to facilitate the export of gro-and- nuts via these roads and exis-Tlg lNigerian roads to Kao,o important center of the Nigerian Railway. The Project will result in considerable savrirrgs Ln transport, cost which will directly benefit the agricultural producers. iii. The Project involves the construction of a 3h4 koi± -long, laterite sturfaced road from Dungass to Maigatari and the improvement of a 35 kna long, earth road frrm DamtthiaO to Dungass, Ihe cO9t Of the ProJect, excluding any kind cf import taxes, is estimated at US$105 million equivalent, which ncl-udes 25 percent for co.-,tingencies an d 9 peruent for priue -!ureaoess The foreign currency component of the Project is estimated at US$1,2 million e.u.valent, or 80 percent of the cost excluding import t4xesc. iv., it ls pl&Ued to fli ish design and ikr±-Ze bids i1 early 19650 Construction will be under one unit price contract awarded on the basis of international competitive bidding, The award of the contract anad the Association reimbursements will be based on unit prices without import taxes. Construction is scheduled to be finished end of 19660 vo The small professional staff of the Ministry oF Public WTorks is not sufficient to carry out the design and supervision of this Project, All of the engineering, preparation of bid and contract documents, analysis of bids, and the supervision of construction will h,ave to be performed with the assis- tance of foreign consulting engineers, vi. In view of the GoverNment's financial situation, the contribution which it now makes to the road construction and maintenance program is the most that can realistically be expected, It is therefore proposed to finance the full cost of the Project, excluding any kind of import taxes, by an I)A credit of US$165 million equivalent. NIGER ROAD PROJECT I. INTRODUCTION 1, TTh fTn-rPrnmozrnt of Niger has reauested IDA to finance a small but high pricrity Road Project, It consists of the construction of a 34 lam. long, laterite surfaced road and the imDrovement of a 35 kmo long, earth road ir. central Niger, near the Nigerian border, The main purpose of the Project is to facilitate the export of agricultura'L products, mainly groundnuts. The total cost of the Project, excluding anr kind of import taxes, is estimated at US$1.5 million equivalent and the Government has requested financing of the full cost, 2 Thi.s a praisal is based on the findings of two Bank/IDA missions to Niger, in March/April and October 1963, andl on financial and techInical inf'or- mation submitted by the Government Of Ni:ger ass.sistdC Dy its consultants, As the Project roads lirk w-ith the Niaerian road and railway network, a close contact was also estbablished witVh of-ficfi.als Of the Northern N-igeria Public Works Department in Kadluna. II, BACKGROUTD IDFOE14ATION General 3.0 Niger was formerly part of French West Africa and gained independence in i0ou, It is located between Algeria, Mali, Nigeria and Cnad and covers 2 1,267,000 km , two and a half tiies the area of France0 4. Most of Niger is plateau country with altitudes varying from 200 to 450 meters, except for mountains towards the northern border, Three-fourtns of the area belongs to the saharan and subsaharan desert receiving l.ttle rain- fall, if any. The greatest portion of the populatIon is therefore conceritrat- ed in a narrow strip in the south, which. has widths varying from 110 to 180) km, and which extends from the border with Nigeria up north to the 350 mm. rainfall line, 5. Agriculture is the main activity in this area, employing 80 percent of the population on an area covering only 10 percent of the counitryls total surface. Further north, up to the 200 mm. rainfall line, nomads raise cattle, Income is low¢, GNP per capita in 1961 was estimated at $70, Population -isestimated at 3 million people, of which more than 500,000 are nomads; net rate of increase is 2.7 percent per annumc It is almost entire.iy rural or pastoral: no more than 50o,000 people are living 'in the capital Niamey, and only 15,000 in Zinder, the countryts second largest; city. Transport 7. Due to its location Niger has always been a link between lNorth Af'rica and the central and southern part of this continent. Following hisuorical trade patterns, routes are predominantly north-south. This makes it relatively expensive to improve the transport sy7stem between the western part of the country (with the capital Niamey) and the central part (with Maradi and Zindor as main centers), as is envisaged by the Governmert in order to strengthemi thn -2- political and economic ties between the two most important parts of the country. 8. Niger is landlocked and relies for its overseas trade on the trans- port system of neighboring countries, the most irmportant of which are Dahomey and Nigeria with their ports of Cotonou and Lagos. The average distance from the populated southern part of the country to these ports, 1,300 km., is considerable and has a detri;nental effect in Niger's overseas trade. 9. NIiger has no railroad, although there are plans to extend the Dahomey railroad from Parakou to Dosso. The foreseeable volume of traffic, however, is such that the economic justification for this proposed extension is difficult, and it seems that this program is no longer considered to be of high priority. 10. The Niger River passes through the country for about 500 km. and is navigable only a few months of the year. The M'dalanville bridge, however, impedes passage of barges of 50 tons or over, whichl were in use ultil 1956 when the bridge was constructed. At present, therefore, the river has no ecornomic significance for transportation. 11. As a result of the long distances between main centers - both national and international - and insufficient facilities for surfaca transport, transport by air is significant. There are 17 airports and airstrips through- out the count3.y7 Niamey is connected wilh other capitals by regular jet services. 120 Transport by camel is important judging by the great number of animals (about 350,00C)). Camels are especially used in areas where there are no roads, since they do not even need a track. The cost per ton-km. of camel transport is high, however, varying from CFA. 25eO to 0 xo (US$0.10 - 016 equivalent), and camel. transport cannot compete with truck transport in areas where rcads are adequate. 13* Based on the present and foreseeable transportation needs, road transportation must be considered as the most economical solution. One large company exists, which is 51 percent government-owned, and which operates over 300 truck:s and buses. This company provides services at least weekly between all major cities. In addition, there are a number of small operator.. owning one to three trucks, who provide mainly unscheduled services on short distances. l. At the end of 1962 there were 5,100 motor vehicles, 63 percent of which were cars and 30 percent trucks and. buses. (Table 1). The vehicle fleet as a whole increased over the past two years at an annual rate of 28 percent (30 percent on passenger cars).