2018 - World Bank - Experiences of Microenterprises

This document provides an overview of the experiences with routine road maintenance groups (RMG) and routine road maintenance microenterprises (ME) in eight countries in Latin America (Colombia, Peru, Honduras and Bolivia), Asia (China, Nepal and Laos) and the Pacific (Kiribati). It was prepared by the World Bank as a reference document for other countries interested in introducing a similar approach, providing them with a description of the steps followed and approaches applied in different countries, and allowing them to better understand the different options available and the reasons for selecting any specific one.

The following chapter provides an overview of the experiences in the eight countries, describing the general characteristics of routine maintenance groups and microenterprises, and highlighting the similarities and differences between the countries. This is done by looking at the coverage of the RMGs and microenterprises in the different road networks, the maintenance activities carried out by them, the management of the RMGs and microenterprises by the entity responsible for the roads (including formation, training, procurement, supervision and payments), and the costs and financing of the RMGs and microenterprises. This section concludes with a table providing a full overview of the current status of the road maintenance groups and microenterprises in the eight countries.

The subsequent chapters provide more in-depth detail of the different experiences in the eight countries. In the case of Peru, the approach in the departmental and rural roads has been treated separately from that in the national roads, due to the very different nature of the microenterprises concerned in terms of their formation, activities, management and financing. Apart from the information regarding the current coverage, activities, management and costs, the case studies also provide a historical overview of the introduction of the approach and its replication and expansion over the years.

This document was prepared by Serge Cartier van Dissel, road management and maintenance consultant for the World Bank who has been working with road maintenance groups and microenterprises for over 15 years. He has been involved directly or indirectly in most of the experiences described in this document.