MCC ropes in iRAP

Road infrastructure safety is being lifted in Malawi thanks to a ground-breaking $350 million millennium challenge corporation – mcc compact and five-day iRAP capacity building initiative completed last week with local partners.

Malawi’s nearly 5,000 kilometres of paved roads are plagued by frequent and deadly crashes. Annually, road crashes claim over 4,025 lives and result in nearly 200,000 injuries, costing the country an estimated USD 685 million.

The $350 million MCC Malawi Transport and Land Compact will run from 2024 to 2029 and includes three components to revamp the country’s transportation and land sectors. Of these, the accelerated growth corridors (AGC) Project involves a substantial $228 million investment to upgrade over 300 kilometres of roads across four critical agricultural corridors, with a strong emphasis on improving road safety.

Tied to the compact activities and long-term global iRAP-mcc partnership, a comprehensive five-day inception visit was held supported by iRAP engineers Jigesh Bhavsar and Racheal Nganwa.

The collaboration between mcc, iRAP, and local and international partners represents a pivotal step towards transforming road safety in Malawi.

Other iRAP-related activities in Malawi to date have included: – partner-led irap assessments of 530km of an m1 rehabilitation project, including star rating of designs; – star ratings for schools assessments at 16 schools; – a memorandum of understanding with MTPW, Rosaf and iRAP which is guiding future collaboration and capacity building to support Malawi’s national road safety strategy 2022-2030; -and irap training for local stakeholders.

The MCC Compact also complements ongoing investments from other international bodies. The European investment bank (EIB) is spearheading the major rehabilitation of the M1 national road corridor, while the world bank is supporting the installation of the driver crash data system, which integrates with iRAP data for improved analysis and safety planning.

By combining substantial financial investment with targeted road safety initiatives and capacity building, the iRAP mcc partnership aims to enhance the safety of Malawi’s roads and support the development of a locally led Malawirap road assessment programme. Through these efforts, Malawi is poised to make significant strides in road safety, saving lives and serious injuries, and fostering safer communities.