A 19-member delegation from the Democratic Republic of the Congo's (DRC) various institutions responsible for the road sector is in the country to tap Namibia's technical skills in road maintenance.

Due to the quality of the road infrastructure in Namibia, the DRC delegation saw it fit to undertake a benchmarking exercise to learn from Namibia.

The delegation will look at road construction techniques, funding of road infrastructure, and maintenance.

Namibia has been ranked first in terms of road quality and connectivity in Africa for the past five years and has thus far become a benchmarking destination.

Ali Ipinge is the Chief Executive Officer of the Road Fund Administration.

"Namibia has been very deliberate in its effort to push through proper Corridor management. Namibia has invested a lot of money in the Trans Zambezi Corridor that links Walvis Bay through Ndola in Zambia to Lubumbashi; it's part of our ideal as a country to push through the logistics."

The Chairperson of the Road Fund in the DRC, De' Alonzo Lubika, says they want to change their technical ways of maintaining roads.

He says the DRC receives heavy rainfall, and this poses a danger to the transport sector. The country also wants to develop road infrastructure in rural areas.

"Our visit here is about the technology of road stabilisation using dead road gravel. The country has a road network mostly composed of dead roads, so we are here to learn the techniques that they have been using to stabilise their roads."

Namibia remains unchallenged when it comes to good-quality roads in Africa, with a score of 5,2 out of 7, ranking above South Africa and Rwanda, which score 5,0  in second and third places, respectively.