Toll gate roads are expected to directly reduce transportation costs of major commodities, such as sugar and tobacco, increasing price competitiveness of Malawi exports (9).

Improved road infrastructure is also expected to reduce importation costs of staple goods easing economic pressure on the most vulnerable. Increase in tourism numbers due to access improvement to main attractions will also increase employment opportunities and needed foreign exchange (9).

Toll roads traverse large tracks of land and development of new toll roads in Malawi could decrease arable and grazing land, disrupt farming activities in the surrounding areas due to construction, and indirectly induce migration due to this disruption (12).

Over-speeding on improved roads may result in an increase in road accidents (25). Africa has the world’s most dangerous road network with a fatality rate of 28 deaths per 100,000 population per year, compared with 4.3 per 100,000 in Britain (33).

Studies of the spread of HIV/AIDS reveal evidence that the transport sector is a major vector of the disease. New transport routes encourage migration between areas of low and high HIV prevalence, for example from urban areas to rural areas, and between countries and regions. Further, truck drivers are vulnerable to contracting the disease, and to passing it to others, due their high- risk behaviour at truck stops and in border towns (33). This could negatively affect the intended social-economic impact of major road developments that cut through rural communities in Malawi.

User fees can have a disproportionate impact on low-income drivers, who may rely on toll roads to commute to work or access essential services. This can lead to a burden on already financially strained households (12).

Increase economic development particularly in rural areas where improved roads will increase trade opportunities and accessibility for industry to move goods and people to more areas and across borders expediently.

Under Enabler 6 of Economic Infrastructure of the MW2063, Malawi aims to "have a world-class, well maintained and expanding road network connecting the urban and rural areas to local and international markets" (2).

National Export Strategy II 2021 -2026 aims to increase investment into enabling infrastructure, both hard infrastructure, such as roads, energy and water, as well as soft infrastructure, such as ICT (25).

As part of the National Tourism Policy, the Government, through the Ministry responsible for Tourism, is currently implementing a project aimed at upgrading access roads to tourism attraction sites. This is to address accessibility challenges that are there especially during the rainy season to reach these sites (24).

Financial incentives: Roads Fund Administration (RFA) partnered with New Build Society (NBS), a local bank, and successfully issued two bonds through a private placement market and raised MWK 10 billion (USD 5,938,393) (in two tranches) for the rehabilitation of roads in Lilongwe. The government provided a guarantee to bond holders that the RFA Act, which provides predictability of policy and board/management actions, will not be changed before the bonds matures (2).

Other incentives: Demand assessment of State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) shows that their balance sheets could allow Road Fund Administration (RFA) and EGENCO to borrow to the tune of MWK 21.9 billion (USD 30 million) annually over 10 years. RFA is already beginning to prepare for another bond issue (this time a public issue)—its plan is to issue up to MWK 50 billion (USD 68 million) over the next five years. The RFA also plans to list on the stock exchange the existing bonds, which were privately placed with commercial banks (2).

Fiscal incentives: Malawi offers import duty and VAT exemptions on new trucks and trucks used for a period not exceeding 15 years of 15 tonnage or more capacity but attracts 5% import excise. The same trucks used for a period exceeding 15 years attracts 20% import excise (27).

The Roads Authority is the primary custodian of national roads in Malawi, and all road construction standards are stipulated by the Roads Authority (34).

Public Roads Act of 1962 was enacted to consolidate and amend the law relating to Public Roads. In this Act, the highway authority is assigned responsibilities for the construction, care and maintenance of any road or class of road in accordance with the Act (26).

The Lands Acquisition Act of 1970 was enacted to provide for the acquisition of land. Section 3 of the Act read with the Amendment Act empowers the Minister responsible for lands whenever he is of the opinion that it is desirable or expedient in the interests of Malawi, to acquire land for public utility, either compulsorily or by agreement, and pay compensation as may be agreed or determined under the Act (26).

The Physical Planning Act is a principal act for regulating land use planning and physical developments in Malawi (26).

Mota Engil, MA Kharafi and Sons, Fargo Ltd. Old Mutual Malawi, NBS Bank.

Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Road Fund Administration (RFA), Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority (MERA) (fuel levy), Malawi Roads Authority.

World Bank Group, International Finance Corporation (IFC), African Development Bank (AfDB).

Growth in agriculture exports can be cultivated by sustainable and reliable transport logistics, accessible road networks. Planned road upgrades in Sothern Malawi outlined in Malawi's Transport Master Plan include the Mangochi-Makanjira road and the Mangochi-Chiponde road (9). Easier transportation to the port of Beira will make commodity prices even more competitive (2).

Major mining projects to be developed in the Mtwara Development Zone include coal, iron ore, titanium and vanadium mining, hydro-electric generation, and development of gas reserves. Deposits of gold, graphite, limestone, marble and uranium have been reported. Prospecting for these depends on a transport system that can support delivery of the required equipment in remote areas, as well as extraction of the prospected resources (9).