Road traffic accidents are known to be a major cause of death and disability from top to toe the developing world.

Road traffic accidents are known to be a major cause of death and disability from top to toe the developing world, but nowhere is the moot point so acute as sub-Saharan Africa. Bad roads, aged vehicles and lax regulations are all considered ma iota contributing factors to Africa's road fatality and accident numbers, themselves three times as great as the continent's share of motor vehicles.

As the biggest funder of the building, upgrading and repair of roads in Africa, the World Bank (WB) has an obvious part in addressing this problem. In fact, the WB's first loan to Africa, made to