The Contribution of Road Infrastructure and Maintenance to Economic Growth in Burundi

Abstract

The study evaluated how road infrastructure and maintenance influence growth in Burundi with a view of developing consumer spending, investment, imports vs exports, and government expenditure. This research employed descriptive and cross-sectional design and adopted mixed research approach where both qualitative and quantitative were combined. Self-administered questionnaires and interview guides were used to collect data from a sample size of 230 delivered from a study population of 540 using Slovin’s (1960) formula. Simple random sampling and stratified sampling were used to select sample.  From the findings, a significant positive relationship between Road infrastructure and Economic growth was found (r = 0.638, P-value<0.01). It indicated also a significant positive relationship between Maintenance and Economic growth (r = 0.609, P-value<0.01). The study variables explained 61% of the variance of Economic growth (R Square =.610). The most influential predictor of Economic growth was Road infrastructure (β=0.406, Sig 0.700) followed by Maintenance (β=0.100, Sig 0.734) which is less likely to influence Economic growth since it portrays a low value with a significance in the model. The study recommends that Road infrastructure development assigned to the Road Agency should map out areas with urgent need for roads while assessing the economic potential, that the Ministry of Public works should develop a road construction policy focusing on the standards and guidelines for new road construction.