FUEL TAXES AND ROAD-USER CHARGES IN LDCS - SOME LESSONS FROM SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Congestion and road damage are the two major externalities associated with road transport. These externalities are associated, in general, w ith different types of vehicles: urban congestion with private cars an d road damage with heavy vehicles. The experience of Sub-Saharan Afric a shows that the road damage externality is much more important than t he urban congestion problem in less developed countries, in sharp cont rast to the experience of the developed countries. If fuel taxes are u sed as substitutes for more sophisticated road-user charges, there is no justification for petrol taxes to exceed the taxes imposed on diese l fuel.