AfDB Shifts Focus in CAR From Funding Projects to Fixing Delivery Bottlenecks

The African Development Bank is pressing to turn major infrastructure spending in the Central African Republic into faster, more reliable delivery. With key road and airport projects nearing completion, the focus is shifting from finance and construction to the harder task of clearing bottlenecks, strengthening institutions and getting new assets fully operational.

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is moving to accelerate a broad investment programme in the Central African Republic (CAR) as several flagship projects approach crucial stages of implementation. Roads, aviation, energy, water and sanitation, agriculture and health-linked infrastructure sit within a wider 2026–2031 strategy aimed at pushing economic transformation beyond project approvals and into measurable delivery.

A nine-day Bank mission to Bangui in September 2026 placed unusually strong emphasis on execution: shortening start-up periods, improving procurement and disbursement, strengthening project-management capacity and resolving obstacles before they harden into longer delays. The focus reflects a practical reality confronting large infrastructure programmes: financing can unlock construction, but administrative capacity determines how quickly projects become usable assets.

The real test now is execution, not ambition

The Bank's engagement in CAR has reached a point where implementation quality may prove as consequential as the size of individual investments. Several projects are already well advanced, reducing the distance between planned infrastructure and operational infrastructure, but also exposing the institutional weaknesses that become more visible as construction progresses.

Sector ministries and project-management units are expected to carry much of this burden. Procurement, financial disbursement and accountability were all singled out for stronger institutional support, suggesting that delays are not confined to engineering or financing but extend into the machinery responsible for turning approved projects into completed ones.

Faster implementation also requires better sequencing before construction begins. Weak preparation can force governments and financiers to deal with compensation, approvals, procurement or coordination problems after contractors are already mobilised, raising the possibility that projects nearing completion can still be slowed by unresolved administrative issues.

Hence, the emerging approach is less about expanding a list of commitments and more about improving the chain connecting planning, financing, construction and operation. Success under the Bank's new country strategy will depend heavily on whether those links become more predictable.

Corridor 13 exposes both progress and friction

The $282 million Pointe-Noire–Brazzaville–Bangui–N'Djamena Multimodal Transport Corridor Development Project illustrates the scale of the infrastructure programme. It is intended to provide the Central African Republic with another route to regional markets through a second connection to the port of Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo.

Construction on important sections is close to completion. By the end of August, work on the 69-kilometre Bossarangba–Mbaïki stretch and 4.5 kilometres of roads in Mbaïki had reached 98 percent, with the urban component expanded beyond its original three-kilometre scope and equipped with solar-powered street lighting.

Near-completion, however, has not eliminated implementation risk. Delays in clearing the right-of-way have been linked to compensation procedures involving affected communities, demonstrating how social and administrative processes can influence construction schedules even when physical works are far advanced.

Compensation becomes particularly significant in this context because road delivery depends on more than technical progress. Unless land access, community engagement and related procedures move in step with engineering works, high completion percentages can mask unresolved barriers to full project delivery.

Transport investments are being tied to wider public infrastructure

Corridor 13 is not limited to road connectivity. The programme also includes a cardiology centre under construction in Damara, around 25 kilometres from Bangui, where works have reached nearly 50 percent.

The facility adds a health dimension to an investment otherwise centred on regional transport integration. Once operational, it is intended to strengthen specialist cardiology services and widen access to such care across the country, although its eventual reach will depend on factors beyond completion of the building itself.

A similar transition from construction to operation is approaching at Bangui-M'Poko International Airport. Modernisation of the terminal and related infrastructure, including the car park and power station, has passed the 90 percent mark under a project financed through a $13.67 million grant.

The airport investment is designed to support compliance with standards required for International Civil Aviation Organisation certification while improving air connectivity. Physical completion will represent only one stage; the more consequential question is whether the upgraded infrastructure can move successfully through the certification process and into sustained operation.

Completion rates will not decide the outcome on their own

High construction figures give the Bank and CAR authorities visible momentum, but they also shift scrutiny toward the final stages of implementation. Projects can become most vulnerable near completion when unresolved procurement issues, institutional weaknesses, compensation disputes or coordination failures delay the transition from construction site to functioning infrastructure.

The September discussions consequently placed monitoring and coordination alongside physical investment. Stronger oversight is intended to help identify bottlenecks earlier and prevent delays from accumulating across ministries, project units and contractors.

Such institutional improvements will be vital to the wider 2026–2031 strategy because CAR's development programme spans sectors with different operational demands. Roads require land access and maintenance arrangements; airports depend on safety and certification requirements; health facilities require systems capable of operating them after construction ends.

CAR and AfDB have already identified where the pressure points lie. The next phase will show whether stronger preparation, faster decision-making and better institutional coordination can convert advanced construction programmes into infrastructure that is fully operational rather than simply nearly finished.