Description
Project Description
This EU funded Institutional Capacity Building project to the Ethiopian Roads Authority, was implemented by NTU International A/S in the period October 2018 to October 2020. The overall/high-level objective of this TCP was to improve capacity by providing Institutional Capacity Building (ICB) to the RRAs and in turn supporting the achievement of the RSDP V plan by:
- Improving the road density and therefore the accessibility to economic activities and public services (education, hospital, health centers);
- Supporting the economic development in different sectors (industrial parks, agriculture, etc.); and ultimately helping to alleviate poverty;
- Improving road sector governance through the implementation of the RSDP V and beyond;
- Supporting the ERA embarking upon a new phase of strengthening the capacity of the road sector at the regional level;
- Supporting the Regional States in improving and strengthening their organizational structures and integrating their road functions and related activities as appropriate, and effectiveness of management through the process of planning, organizing, and controlling so as to achieve desirable outcomes;
- Improving the overall efficiency and sustainability of the road sector, while also facilitating the further empowerment of the RRAs through the task of developing levels of human and institutional capacity;
- Enabling ERA to re-focus its role in accordance with its mandate as a Federal institution, with a shift towards concentrating on its responsibilities, and greater emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness, as well as service orientation, and a strategic approach to road development, while promoting the preservation of road assets as a critical task.
The purpose of the TCP included supporting the Regional States in the integration of their Road functions and related activities as appropriate, and contributing towards increasing the effectiveness of management of the Regional Road Authorities (RRAs) through the process of planning, organizing, controlling, so as to achieve desired outcomes as well as facilitating the further empowerment of the RRAs, through the task of developing levels of Human and Institutional capacity.
Context
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has a two-tier structure of decentralized governance, where each of the nine regions and two special status cities has its own autonomous and elected government. The 1995 constitution of the country divides the responsibilities between the different levels of government where each sub-federal government is responsible for the provision of public services at its level.
In this organizational system, the Federal State is responsible for all authority not delegated or enhanced in the constitution. In this context, the Regional government is responsible for implementing economic and social policies and maintaining public service.
The Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA) consists of four departments and is each headed by a Deputy Director-General who reports to the Director-General, who is overseen (and as a member) by the ERA Board. The existing system gives the ERA supremacy over the development, administration, and regulation of the, among other things, major road linking two or more states. The new regulations shall share the sovereignty between the Federal Government and the Regional States. This means that the Regional Road Authority (RRA)1 will get more influence on local matters, but simultaneously an increase in responsibilities.
While the ERA is organized into a fixed model, the RRAs don’t have a streamlined organizational setup, but instead, it is different in each region. The lack of a fixed model means that the road authority in certain regions is divided into different bureaus which causes difficulties for the ERA to implement institutional arrangements since it has to be tailormade for each RRA. Therefore, the RSDP V has, among other things, focused on building a streamlined organizational structure, with necessary model alternations to take into account regional characteristics.
Studies have shown that the program and people involved in the RSDP especially needed further training from experts within the areas of design, contract administration, engineering procurement, and project management.
Therefore, it was vital, for the RRA's achievements and sustainability, that the senior staff were provided with standardized training during the RSDP V to improve their knowledge and skillset. The training was especially important since during road construction on URRAP projects there was a problem with the frequent compromised quality of construction due to the weak supervision at the woreda level. Therefore, RSDP V had a greater focus on training.
The strategy and structure of the project
The Activities were structured into the following 4 phases of work:
- Component 0: Project Inception.
- Component 1: Study and define a model of organizational setup and structure of all RRAs.
- Component 2: Produce working manuals, guidelines, and procedures.
- Component 3: Deliver capacity-building training, workshops, and seminars.
In order to cover the scope of the activities outlined in the project’s Terms of Reference (ToR), the Consultant organized each of the above phases of work (apart from Component 0), into the following activities, each of which covered relatively discreet aspects of the project:
- Activity 1.1: Assessment of the legal mandate, institutional arrangements, and capacity of the RRAs and identification of key capacity constraints;
- Activity 1.2: Organizational study and development of ideal model setup and necessary model alterations;
- Activity 1.3: Support the implementation of approved model setup;
- Activity 2.1: Assess and recommend a practical and sustainable road asset management system;
- Activity 2.2: Develop procedures, guidelines, and manuals on the planning of road works;
- Activity 2.3: Adapt/develop appropriate procurement guides and procedures for road works, supplies, and consultancy services;
- Activity 2.4: Adapt best practices in contract documentation, including specifications for the contracting out of road works;
- Activity 2.5: Develop procedures, guidelines, and manuals on Contract Administration;
- Activity 2.6: Develop procedures, guidelines, and manuals on the execution of road maintenance;
- Activity 3.1: Conduct Capacity Building Needs Assessment;
- Activity 3.2: Elaborate the Capacity Building Action Plan;
- Activity 3.3: Implement the Capacity Building Action Plan for formal training sessions;
- Activity 3.4: Implement the Capacity Building Action Plan follow-up at a regional level;
- Activity 3.5: Monitor outputs and results of capacity-building activities.
This approach allowed each part of the project to be implemented at its own pace, without delays in one area adversely impacting the other areas of work. This helped accelerate the implementation.
For each activity of work above, various workshops were held with the relevant ERA and RRA staff, in order to discuss how any weaknesses in the current situation could be best overcome. These discussions, together with the findings from the Assessments, were considered when developing specific Action Plans. In turn, these formed the basis upon which the Implementation Program was conducted.
Governance and funding
The Ethiopian Roads Authority (Federal level) has been the responsible body to administer the contract.
The Director-General of ERA was the contract supervisor. He assigned a Director as a Project Manager to work with the consultant on the day-to-day management of the project activities. The Project Manager had the mandate to make all decisions pertaining to the management of the contract within the provisions of the contract agreement. However, issues such as a change in the scope or specifics of any or all parts of the service, additions, and omissions were to be referred to the contract supervisor.
A Steering Group (SG) was established to review the progress of the TCP. The SG was chaired by the Director-General of ERA and consisted of representatives of the beneficiaries (General Managers of RRAs), the Ministry of Transport, the NAO, and the EU Delegation.
The Donor was the European Union, represented by the EU Delegation to Ethiopia.
Collaboration
The main donors to support the Road Sector in Ethiopia are the European Union (EU), World Bank (WB), and African Development Bank (AfDB).
The donors each support similar and different development activities in the country. Some of the most relevant foreign donors and projects are as follows:
- The majority of the EU funding to Ethiopia is financed through the European Development Fund (EDF). The total amount for the 11th EDF, which supports projects all around the world, amounts to €30.5 billion for the period of 2014-2020. €745 million of this amount will focus on the infrastructural development of Ethiopian policy, health, agriculture, food, and road network. This includes the SPSP IV running from 2016 to 2020, which has achieved remarkable results, regarding i) Government dialogue regarding road sector issues, ii) Road sector capacity support, and iii) RSDP financial support.
- The WB is a prime supporter of Ethiopia’s development, primarily through the Internal Development Assistance (IDA) which is the largest provider of official development assistance. Since 1991 the fund has committed over $17 billion to Ethiopia’s development.
- In 2017 The AfDB disclosed that it will continue to support Ethiopia’s development target to become a middle-income county by 2025. One of the areas where they’re supporting is the funding of a 1,200 km road connecting Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa with Keny’s second-largest city Mombasa, to support trade.
- The Department for International Development (DfID) is the UK’s government department responsible for administering overseas aid. It has been a major supporter of the URRAP, and by doing this both supporting the RSDP IV (URRAP) and the overall GTP II.
- The FDRE has spent a lot of time, energy, and money on the RSDP during its 23-year lifespan (1997-2020). Additionally, the GoE is funding other relevant roadside projects to accommodate the country’s plan of building a sustainable and extensive road network connecting rural areas.
This EU funded Institutional Capacity Building project to the Ethiopian Roads Authority, was implemented by NTU International A/S in the period October 2018 to October 2020. The overall/high-level objective of this TCP was to improve capacity by providing Institutional Capacity Building (ICB) to the RRAs and in turn supporting the achievement of the RSDP V plan by:
- Improving the road density and therefore the accessibility to economic activities and public services (education, hospital, health centers);
- Supporting the economic development in different sectors (industrial parks, agriculture, etc.); and ultimately helping to alleviate poverty;
- Improving road sector governance through the implementation of the RSDP V and beyond;
- Supporting the ERA embarking upon a new phase of strengthening the capacity of the road sector at the regional level;
- Supporting the Regional States in improving and strengthening their organizational structures and integrating their road functions and related activities as appropriate, and effectiveness of management through the process of planning, organizing, and controlling so as to achieve desirable outcomes;
- Improving the overall efficiency and sustainability of the road sector, while also facilitating the further empowerment of the RRAs through the task of developing levels of human and institutional capacity;
- Enabling ERA to re-focus its role in accordance with its mandate as a Federal institution, with a shift towards concentrating on its responsibilities, and greater emphasis on efficiency and effectiveness, as well as service orientation, and a strategic approach to road development, while promoting the preservation of road assets as a critical task.
The purpose of the TCP included supporting the Regional States in the integration of their Road functions and related activities as appropriate, and contributing towards increasing the effectiveness of management of the Regional Road Authorities (RRAs) through the process of planning, organizing, controlling, so as to achieve desired outcomes as well as facilitating the further empowerment of the RRAs, through the task of developing levels of Human and Institutional capacity.
Context
The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has a two-tier structure of decentralized governance, where each of the nine regions and two special status cities has its own autonomous and elected government. The 1995 constitution of the country divides the responsibilities between the different levels of government where each sub-federal government is responsible for the provision of public services at its level.
In this organizational system, the Federal State is responsible for all authority not delegated or enhanced in the constitution. In this context, the Regional government is responsible for implementing economic and social policies and maintaining public service.
The Ethiopian Road Authority (ERA) consists of four departments and is each headed by a Deputy Director-General who reports to the Director-General, who is overseen (and as a member) by the ERA Board. The existing system gives the ERA supremacy over the development, administration, and regulation of the, among other things, major road linking two or more states. The new regulations shall share the sovereignty between the Federal Government and the Regional States. This means that the Regional Road Authority (RRA)1 will get more influence on local matters, but simultaneously an increase in responsibilities.
While the ERA is organized into a fixed model, the RRAs don’t have a streamlined organizational setup, but instead, it is different in each region. The lack of a fixed model means that the road authority in certain regions is divided into different bureaus which causes difficulties for the ERA to implement institutional arrangements since it has to be tailormade for each RRA. Therefore, the RSDP V has, among other things, focused on building a streamlined organizational structure, with necessary model alternations to take into account regional characteristics.
Studies have shown that the program and people involved in the RSDP especially needed further training from experts within the areas of design, contract administration, engineering procurement, and project management.
Therefore, it was vital, for the RRA's achievements and sustainability, that the senior staff were provided with standardized training during the RSDP V to improve their knowledge and skillset. The training was especially important since during road construction on URRAP projects there was a problem with the frequent compromised quality of construction due to the weak supervision at the woreda level. Therefore, RSDP V had a greater focus on training.
The strategy and structure of the project
The Activities were structured into the following 4 phases of work:
- Component 0: Project Inception.
- Component 1: Study and define a model of organizational setup and structure of all RRAs.
- Component 2: Produce working manuals, guidelines, and procedures.
- Component 3: Deliver capacity-building training, workshops, and seminars.
In order to cover the scope of the activities outlined in the project’s Terms of Reference (ToR), the Consultant organized each of the above phases of work (apart from Component 0), into the following activities, each of which covered relatively discreet aspects of the project:
- Activity 1.1: Assessment of the legal mandate, institutional arrangements, and capacity of the RRAs and identification of key capacity constraints;
- Activity 1.2: Organizational study and development of ideal model setup and necessary model alterations;
- Activity 1.3: Support the implementation of approved model setup;
- Activity 2.1: Assess and recommend a practical and sustainable road asset management system;
- Activity 2.2: Develop procedures, guidelines, and manuals on the planning of road works;
- Activity 2.3: Adapt/develop appropriate procurement guides and procedures for road works, supplies, and consultancy services;
- Activity 2.4: Adapt best practices in contract documentation, including specifications for the contracting out of road works;
- Activity 2.5: Develop procedures, guidelines, and manuals on Contract Administration;
- Activity 2.6: Develop procedures, guidelines, and manuals on the execution of road maintenance;
- Activity 3.1: Conduct Capacity Building Needs Assessment;
- Activity 3.2: Elaborate the Capacity Building Action Plan;
- Activity 3.3: Implement the Capacity Building Action Plan for formal training sessions;
- Activity 3.4: Implement the Capacity Building Action Plan follow-up at a regional level;
- Activity 3.5: Monitor outputs and results of capacity-building activities.
This approach allowed each part of the project to be implemented at its own pace, without delays in one area adversely impacting the other areas of work. This helped accelerate the implementation.
For each activity of work above, various workshops were held with the relevant ERA and RRA staff, in order to discuss how any weaknesses in the current situation could be best overcome. These discussions, together with the findings from the Assessments, were considered when developing specific Action Plans. In turn, these formed the basis upon which the Implementation Program was conducted.
Governance and funding
The Ethiopian Roads Authority (Federal level) has been the responsible body to administer the contract.
The Director-General of ERA was the contract supervisor. He assigned a Director as a Project Manager to work with the consultant on the day-to-day management of the project activities. The Project Manager had the mandate to make all decisions pertaining to the management of the contract within the provisions of the contract agreement. However, issues such as a change in the scope or specifics of any or all parts of the service, additions, and omissions were to be referred to the contract supervisor.
A Steering Group (SG) was established to review the progress of the TCP. The SG was chaired by the Director-General of ERA and consisted of representatives of the beneficiaries (General Managers of RRAs), the Ministry of Transport, the NAO, and the EU Delegation.
The Donor was the European Union, represented by the EU Delegation to Ethiopia.
Collaboration
The main donors to support the Road Sector in Ethiopia are the European Union (EU), World Bank (WB), and African Development Bank (AfDB).
The donors each support similar and different development activities in the country. Some of the most relevant foreign donors and projects are as follows:
- The majority of the EU funding to Ethiopia is financed through the European Development Fund (EDF). The total amount for the 11th EDF, which supports projects all around the world, amounts to €30.5 billion for the period of 2014-2020. €745 million of this amount will focus on the infrastructural development of Ethiopian policy, health, agriculture, food, and road network. This includes the SPSP IV running from 2016 to 2020, which has achieved remarkable results, regarding i) Government dialogue regarding road sector issues, ii) Road sector capacity support, and iii) RSDP financial support.
- The WB is a prime supporter of Ethiopia’s development, primarily through the Internal Development Assistance (IDA) which is the largest provider of official development assistance. Since 1991 the fund has committed over $17 billion to Ethiopia’s development.
- In 2017 The AfDB disclosed that it will continue to support Ethiopia’s development target to become a middle-income county by 2025. One of the areas where they’re supporting is the funding of a 1,200 km road connecting Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa with Keny’s second-largest city Mombasa, to support trade.
- The Department for International Development (DfID) is the UK’s government department responsible for administering overseas aid. It has been a major supporter of the URRAP, and by doing this both supporting the RSDP IV (URRAP) and the overall GTP II.
- The FDRE has spent a lot of time, energy, and money on the RSDP during its 23-year lifespan (1997-2020). Additionally, the GoE is funding other relevant roadside projects to accommodate the country’s plan of building a sustainable and extensive road network connecting rural areas.