Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs in Sub-Saharan Africa for Enhanced Governance

Transcription

1 Tanzania Roads Fund Board Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs in Sub-Saharan Africa for Enhanced Governance Cesar Queiroz Consultant, former World Bank Highways Adviser Dar es Salaam, Tanzania July 2, 2012 Construction and Maintenance Unit Costs Workshop

2 OUTLINE Building a new dataset of road works contracts of Bank-financed projects in Sub-Saharan Africa Analyzing trends and key indicators Examining red flags Explaining what drives road construction costs: issues addressed by project implementing agencies Enhancing accountability and attaining a higher degree of control of corruption in World Bankfinanced projects in the road sector Conclusions 8/10/2012 2

3 A SPECIALIZED DATABASE 109 completed and ongoing road and bridge works contracts 76 supervision consultancy contracts for relevant road works Signed between 1999 and 2007 From 22 projects financed by the World Bank Range of works contracts: From US$595,518 to US$58,436,429 For 13 countries in Sub- Saharan Africa: Congo Democratic Republic of Congo Ethiopia Ghana Kenya Malawi Mauritania Mozambique Madagascar Nigeria Tanzania Uganda Zambia 8/10/2012 3

4 DATABASE: SET OF COST INDICATORS Road Works Costs for 7-m wide, 2-lane road equivalent in 2007 US$/km Road Works Unit Costs in 2007 US$ Rehabilitation/ Reconstruction Inter- Urban Engineer s Estimate Asphalt Concrete ($/m3) Portland Cement Concrete ($/m3) Upgrade to Paved Periodic Maintenance Regravel Urban Rural Access Contract Price Actual Cost Base: Gravel, Crushed stone, Bituminous ($/m3) Subbase: Gravel, Crushed Stone ($/m3) Earthworks: Soft, Hard ($/m3) Surface treatment: Single, Double ($/m2) 8/10/2012 4

5 DATABASE: SET OF BIDDING INDICATORS Contracts with Prequalification Contracts without Prequalification Number of applicants for prequalification Number of pre-qualified firms Number of firms buying bidding documents Number of bidders Number of bidders accepted for detailed examination Number of firms buying bidding documents Number of bidders Number of bidders accepted for detailed examination Bid Amounts Name and Nationalities of All Bidders 8/10/2012 5

6 DATABASE: SET OF OTHER INDICATORS DATES Bid Opening Date Contract Signing Date Contract Completion Date Delays in Completion of Work SUPERVISION CONSULTANCY Names and Nationalities of Supervision Consultants Supervision Contract Amount Actual Supervision Contract Amount 8/10/2012 6

7 KEY STATISTICAL TRENDS The road sector contracting of Bank-financed operations is characterized by a limited number of firms dominating large-scale works The market is split between African firms and mainly Chinese and European contractors The largest contracts are generally awarded to international contractors, in particular Chinese Percentage of Contracts by Geographical Group Share of Contract Totals by Geographical Group 8% 18% 4% 24% Local China OECD Other African 45% Other 8/10/2012 7

8 KEY TRENDS: BIDDING PATTERN CONTRACTS WITH PRE-QUALIFICATION About half of the pre-qualified firms do not bid The overall number of pre-qualified firms to bid for large works seems competitive (more than 6 firms on average). However, the actual participation in tenders is quite low Average Number of Pre-qualified Firms, Bidders, and Bidders Accepted for Detailed Examination Ethiopia Ghana Kenya Nigeria Tanzania Uganda Congo (DRC) Pre-qualified firms Bidders Bidders accepted for detailed examination 8/10/2012 8

9 KEY TRENDS: BIDDING PATTERN CONTRACTS WITHOUT PRE-QUALIFICATION Half or more firms buying bidding documents do not bid in the reviewed contracts in Mozambique, Madagascar, DRC, Zambia, and Malawi Average Number of Firms Buying Bidding Documents, Bidders, and Bidders Accepted for Detailed Examination, by Country Congo Congo (DRC) Ethiopia Ghana Madagascar Malawi Mozambique Nigeria Tanzania Zambia Firms buying bidding documents Bidders Bidders accepted for detailed examination 8/10/2012 9

10 KEY TRENDS: BIDDING PATTERN CONTRACT VALUE AND ENGINEER S ESTIMATE Several road works contract values exceed the engineer s estimate by more than 30 percent Difference between Contract Values and Engineer s Estimates, Averages and Ranges (-24.4% to 99.3) (0.9% to 41.6%) (-9.1% to 64.8%) (3.6% to 57%) (-1.2% to 48.9%) (-47.1% to 39.5%) (-15.7% to 69.9%) (-13% to 31.4%) (-18% to 40%) (-0.8% to -19.5) 8/10/

11 KEY TRENDS: BIDDING PATTERN BID OPENING AND CONTRACT SIGNING DATES Extensions of the original bid validity period seem to be a norm Only the DRC, Congo, and Madagascar have the contracts awarded within the original period of validity of bids (90 or 120 days in the sample) Country Average Period between Bid Opening and Contract Signing Dates (Days) Congo (DRC) 71.2 Congo 88.8 Madagascar 88.8 Nigeria Ghana Zambia Ethiopia Mozambique Tanzania Malawi Uganda Kenya /10/

12 KEY TRENDS: IMPLEMENTATION COST OVERRUNS Contract cost increase during implementation is substantially high in some of the countries in the sample Cost Overruns, Averages and Ranges by Country 100% 85.70% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 35.35% 15.98% 12.05% 14.11% 12.06% 3.35% 48.75% 42.50% 18.16% 18.63% 6.71% 2.13% 34.06% 56.03% 12.02% 39.72% -20% -9.79% DRC Malaw i Tanzania Mozambique Ghana Nigeria 8/10/

13 KEY TRENDS: IMPLEMENTATION COST OVERRUNS (cont d) Cost overruns vary across the countries. The highest number of contracts with cost overruns is in Nigeria where almost 43 percent of all the reviewed contracts increased their value by more than 15 percent. Mozambique and Ghana had cost overruns in 30 percent of the contracts in the sample Percentage of Contracts with Cost Overruns of more than 15% by Country Country Total Number of Contracts Number of Contracts with more than 15% Cost Overrun Nigeria 14 6 Mozambique 10 3 Ghana 10 3 Madagascar 7 2 Tanzania 10 1 Congo (DRC) 10 1 Malawi 7 1 Zambia 8 1 8/10/

14 KEY TRENDS: IMPLEMENTATION TIME OVERRUNS The delays in completion of work reaches up to a year and half Average Delay in Completion of Work in Months, by Country Kenya 0.0 Congo Tanzania Madagascar Malawi Ethiopia Uganda M ozambique 11.4 Ghana 13.2 Congo (DRC) 16.3 Nigeria Number of Months 8/10/

15 KEY TRENDS: ROAD WORKS COST PER KM OF A 7-M WIDE, 2-LANE ROAD Rehabilitation & Reconstruction (2007 US$/km) Country Inter-Urban Urban Congo (DRC) 228,872 Ethiopia 388,207 Ghana 261,052 Kenya 955,755 Mozambique 278,661 Malawi 420,838 Nigeria 329,909 1,505,480 Upgrade to Paved (2007 US$/km) Country Inter-Urban Rural Ethiopia 322,373 Ghana 114,566 Malawi 56,874 Tanzania 348,209 Uganda 420,220 Re-gravel (2007 US$/km) Country Inter-Urban Congo 68,094 Congo (DRC) 65,750 Madagascar 54,602 Zambia 25,005 Periodic Maintenance (2007 US$/km) Country Inter-Urban Madagascar 104,992 Mozambique 197,086 Zambia 87,946 8/10/

16 KEY TRENDS: ROAD WORKS COST PER KM OF A 7-M WIDE, 2-LANE INTER-URBAN ROAD A wider range of the average costs per km is observed for the re-gravel and periodic maintenance works; the range is relatively narrower for the upgrade to paved and rehabilitation/reconstruction works Cost per km of a 2-Lane Road by Type of Work for Inter-Urban Roads (2007 US$/km) Type of Work Q1 Mean Q3 Re-gravel 28,877 66,270 83,973 Rehabilitation/Reconstruction 221, , ,801 Periodic Maintenance 78, , ,838 Upgrade to Paved 296, , ,830 8/10/

17 KEY TRENDS: UNIT COSTS ASPHALT CONCRETE AND PORTLAND CEMENT CONCRETE (2007 US$/M3) Large variations are observed in the unit costs of road works across the countries in the sample Asphalt Concrete Portland Cement Concrete (US$/m3) (US$/m3) Congo (DRC) Ethiopia Ghana Kenya Madagascar Mozambique Malawi Nigeria Tanzania Zambia Mauritania /10/

18 KEY TRENDS: UNIT COSTS BASE AND SUBBASE (2007 US$/M3) Gravel Base (US$/m3) Crushed Stone Base (US$/m3) Congo 67.5 Congo (DRC) Ethiopia Ghana Madagascar Mozambique 7.1 Malawi Tanzania 36.7 Uganda Zambia 12.2 Gravel Subbase (US$/m3) Crushed Stone Subbase (US$/m3) Congo (DRC) 23.5 Ethiopia Ghana 6.2 Kenya Madagascar 12.4 Mozambique 7.0 Malawi 7.3 Nigeria 8.8 Tanzania 12.9 Uganda 8.9 Zambia /10/

19 KEY TRENDS: UNIT COSTS EARTHWORKS AND SURFACE TREATMENT (2007 US$) Soft Earthworks (US$/m3) Hard Earthworks (US$/m3) Congo 4.6 Congo (DRC) Ethiopia Ghana 3.0 Kenya Madagascar 5.5 Mozambique Malawi 9.4 Tanzania Uganda 5.3 Zambia 5.7 Mauritania 3.3 Double Surface Treatment (US$/m2) Single Surface Treatment (US$/m2) Congo (DRC) Ethiopia 3.7 Madagascar 4.8 Mozambique Malawi Nigeria Tanzania Uganda 5.5 8/10/

20 KEY STATISTICAL TRENDS BY GEOGRAPHICAL GROUP OF CONTRACTORS The African firms outperform the Chinese and European contractors in several indicators related to the procurement process but underperform in the implementation Statistical Averages by Geographical Groups Difference Between Contract Value and Cost Estimates (%) Days between Bid Opening and Contracts Signing (days) Number of Bidders Cost Overruns Amount (% increase) Delays (months) Local China OECD Other African Others /10/

21 KEY TRENDS BY GEOGRAPHICAL GROUP OF CONTRACTORS: COST PER KM The African firms have a cost advantage over the Chinese and European firms in the sample, when implementing rehabilitation or reconstruction works or upgrading a road to pavement standards Cost per km of a 2-Lane Road Equivalent by Geographical Group and Type of Work (2007 US$) Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Re-gravel Upgrade to Paved Periodic Maintenance Inter-urban Urban Inter-urban Inter-urban Rural Access Inter-urban Local 333,003 1,632,225 59, ,587 China 357, ,167 98,414 OECD 568, , ,152 Other African 28, ,868 8/10/

22 LEADING ROAD WORKS CONTRACTORS A Chinese contractor carried out about 19% of Bank-financed road works in the sample (in financial terms) The total value of road works contracts in the sample is about US$ 1.5 billion Leading Contractors by Awarded Contract Totals Name of Contractor Nationality Total Amount of Contracts Signed (2007 US$) Share of Contract Values to Sample Total Number of road works contracts China Road & Bridge Corp. China 279,292, % 7 SBI Holdings International Netherlands 179,958, % 6 Sinohydro Corporation China 174,563, % 8 China Henan International Corp. China 93,543, % 6 8/10/

23 SUPERVISION CONSULTANCY CONTRACTS: RATIOS The supervision contract amounts vary between 3% and13% of the respective road works contract amounts in the countries reviewed Ratio of Supervision Contract Amounts to Road Works Contract Amounts Ratio of Supervision Contract to Road Works Contract (%) 14% 12% 10% 8% 6% 4% 2% 0% Congo Tanzania Malawi Zambia Ken ya Ghana Uganda Ethiopia Nigeria Mozambique Madagascar Congo (DRC) 8/10/

24 SUPERVISION CONSULTANCY CONTRACTS: COST PER KM There is a wide range between the average costs of supervision per kilometer of similar road works across the countries Average Cost of Supervision per km of a 2-Lane Road by Country (2007 US$) Type of Work Type of Road Cost per km(us$/km) Congo Re-gravel Inter-urban 7,820 Congo (DRC) Re-gravel Inter-urban 1,063 Ethiopia Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Inter-urban 15,741 Upgrade to Paved Inter-urban 18,076 Tanzania Upgrade to Paved Inter-urban 14,456 Ghana Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Inter-urban 15,422 Kenya Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Inter-urban 28,153 Malawi Upgrade to Paved Rural Access 2,255 Mozambique Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Inter-urban 9,701 Periodic Maintenance Inter-urban 7,006 Inter-urban 16,458 Nigeria Rehabilitation and Reconstruction Urban 38,024 8/10/2012 Uganda Upgrade to Paved Inter-urban 22,076 24

25 SELECTION OF RED FLAGS The following is a set of red flags that was selected under the study: Period between bid opening and contract signing is more than 7 months Cost increases by more than 20% during implementation Time overrun is more than 30% of the originally contracted period Contract value is more than 20% above the Engineer s Estimate Half or more firms buying bidding documents do not bid 20% or more of pre-qualified firms do not bid Difference between winning bid and next lowest bid is within 2% Difference between contract price and read-out bid price is more than 10% Winning bid is not the lowest bid accepted for detailed examination Only one or two bidders Cost per km for similar works and unit road works costs are higher than the 75% percentile 8/10/

26 EXAMINATION OF RED FLAGS An inventory of risks was performed for each road works contract using a checklist of red flags The presence of red flags does not prove that corrupt or fraudulent practices have taken place in the procurement and implementation of a contract A red flag is rather a warning sign of a potential procurement and implementation problem that may justify further investigation Conversely, the absence of red flags does not imply that fraud or corruption did not occur 8/10/

27 RED FLAGS : FREQUENCY IN THE SAMPLE OF 109 CONTRACTS More than 7 month period from bid opening to contract signing Delay in completion more than 30% of the contract duration period 20% or more of prequalified firms fail to bid Contract value more than 20% higher than estimate Half or more firms buying bidding documents don t bid Winning bid not the lowest bid accepted for detailed examination Difference between contract price and read-out bid price is >10% Cost/km by type of work is higher than the 75th percentile Variation order>20% Less than 3 bidders Difference between winning bid and next lowest bid is within 2% 8/10/

28 RED FLAGS : FREQUENCY BY COUNTRY Congo (DRC) Nigeria Congo Kenya Zambia Malawi Uganda Mozambique Ethiopia Tanzania Madagascar Ghana Unit Cost > 75th percentile Cost/km by type of w ork is higher than the 75th percentile Difference betw een contract price and read-out bid price is >10% Contract value more than 20% higher than estimate Winning bid not the low est bid accepted for detailed examination Difference betw een w inning bid and next low est bid is w ithin 2% 20% or more of prequalified firms fail to bid Half or more firms buying bidding documents don t bid Less than 3 bidders Delay in completion more than 30% of the contract duration period More than 7 month period from bid opening to contract signing Variation order>20% 8/10/

29 RED FLAGS NORMALIZED BY NUMBER OF CONTRACTS IN EACH COUNTRY 5 Number of redflags normalized by number of contracts Congo (DRC) Nigeria Congo Kenya Zambia Mozambique Uganda Malawi Ethiopia Tanzania Madagascar Ghana 8/10/

30 RED FLAGS NORMALIZED BY NUMBER OF CONTRACTS IN EACH COUNTRY AND WBI CONTROL OF CORRUPTION INDEX 5 Number of redflags per country normalized by number of contracts Congo (DRC) Nigeria Congo Kenya Zambia Mozambique Uganda Malawi Ethiopia Tanzania Madagascar Ghana Number of red flags Index for control of corruption 8/10/

31 RED FLAGS : IN THE CONTRACTS WITH COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY INT The Department of Institutional Integrity (INT) received complaints on 14 contracts from the sample of 109 road works contracts (13% of total) The nature of complaints was mainly related to allegations of bidder collusion or bid rigging, paying bribes, and bidding irregularities The pattern of red flags in the contracts with complaints received by INT slightly differs from the overall pattern observed across all the contracts in the sample 8/10/

32 RED FLAGS : PATTERN IN THE CONTRACTS WITH COMPLAINTS RECEIVED BY INT 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 20% or more of prequalified firms fail to bid More than 7 month period from bid opening to contract signing Cost per km by type of work/type of road higher than the 75th percentile Contract Value more than 20% higher than the estimate Winning bid not the lowest bid accepted for detailed examination Delay in completion more than 30% of the contract duration period Less than 3 bidders Variation order more than 20% Half or more of firms buying bidding documents fail to bid 8/10/2012 Difference between Governance winning and bid Anti-Corruption and next lowest in bid Transport is within 2% 32 Difference between contract price and read-out bid price is within 10%

33 RED FLAGS : ROAD WORKS UNIT COSTS Frequency of Red Flags for Unit Costs in the Contracts with Complaints Received by INT in Comparison with other Contracts in the Sample 25% 20% 15% 10% 5% 0% Subbase Gravel Portland Cement Concrete Earthworks Soft Asphalt Concrete Base Gravel Base Stone Earthworks Hard Contracts w ith complaints received by INT Contracts w ithout complaints 8/10/

34 SELECTED ISSUES AS ADDRESSED BY PROJECT IMPLEMENTING AGENCIES Reasons for high bids: The effect of increase in prices of fuel, power, materials, and equipment on major cost items of contracts A fixed price contract that is not subject to price adjustment Supply and demand effect Potential collusion by bidders Inadequate prediction of major market forces by the engineer s estimate Perception of risks incorporated by bidders in their bid prices (e.g., provisions of extended contract procurement cycle time associated with price inflation risks) Other factors (e.g., a delayed delivery of goods due to congestion and transport problems, the high cost of input taxes, political instability and insecurity) 8/10/

35 OTHER SELECTED ISSUES Reasons for low response to invitation to bid: Increased demand for contractors services Insecure areas in a post-conflict country (DRC) Reasons for cost overruns Global trend of rising oil prices Labor cost increase and impact of other regulatory measures (taxation) Unsatisfactory contractor performance Time lag between design and contract execution dates Time extensions 8/10/

36 RECOMMENDED ACTIONS The following is a set of selected recommendations geared to enhance accountability and attain a higher degree of control of corruption in Bank-financed projects in the road sector in Sub-Saharan Africa: Consider establishing a tighter timeframe for contract signing. A stricter adherence to the Bank s procurement guidelines should be observed that provide for an extension of bid validity if justified by exceptional circumstances (Procurement Guidelines). A delayed bid evaluation process provides opportunities for corrupt practices and back-door negotiations. Allow using a selection procedure of post-qualification in bidding for large works instead of pre-qualification. Knowledge of other prequalified firms carries a potential risk of collusion. Also, other firms may choose not to bid due to a potential collusion of well-connected companies. 8/10/

37 RECOMMENDED ACTIONS Create a system to monitor and assess contractors and consultants performance. Tracking of information on contractors and consultants in the road industry in the region could mitigate risks of misjudging on qualifications of firms as well as ensure due diligence on poor performers. The rankings of major contractors and consultants could identify strong performers who could be encouraged to bid or hired through direct contracting in case of emergencies. Strengthen the monitoring over the procurement and implementation processes to enhance detection of the risks to integrity. It is important to generate the data to increase accountability. 8/10/

38 CONCLUSIONS It is critical to continue collecting data on the procurement and implementation processes of the road sector contracts to allow comparison of cost trends, bidding competition, and performance in the road sector. A standard framework (including a template) has been developed within this study to provide the platform for monitoring and evaluation of prices, bidding data, and contractor s information to help improve governance. Capturing costs and unit price information of road works is important for evaluation of the trends across countries and regions. Empirical evidence could be built on such indicators as price increases relative to the engineer s estimates, cost increases, and key roads input costs to investigate the sources of increased costs and possible factors behind the increase in bid prices. 8/10/

39 CONCLUSIONS Assessing bidding behavior is essential for measuring the level of competition and road works activity financed by the Bank. Verifying the extent of competition in the bidding environment is an important tool for procurement decisions. Detailed bidding data could facilitate measuring if the procurement process is affected by collusion and bid rigging through detection of patterns and red flags in the structure of bids and firms. Measuring performance more consistently would help to address inefficiencies that arise in the current procurement and implementation practices. This would ensure that irregularities are properly captured in the observed trends in a specific country or area. It is important to link the performance measures to contractors and consultants as well as project implementing agencies for accountability. 8/10/

40 Thank you! 8/10/

41 References Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs for Enhanced Governance in Sub-Saharan Africa. World Bank Transport Paper No. TP / /tp_21.pdf Monitoring Road Works Contracts and Unit Costs for Enhanced Governance in Europe and Central Asia. World Bank Transport Paper No. TP Prediction model for the cost of road rehabilitation and reconstruction works. 2nd International Conference on Road and Rail Infrastructure, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 7-9 May /10/

42 Attachment An example of a regression model to predict the cost of road works Source: Prediction model for the cost of road rehabilitation and reconstruction works. 2nd International Conference on Road and Rail Infrastructure, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 7-9 May

43 Example of a regression model to predict the cost of road rehabilitation and reconstruction Y = e ( p ( ) ) β o + β i 1 i X = i +ε Y - the dependent variable X i - independent variables p - the number of independent variables ε - the residual error β i - regression coefficients, and β 0 - a constant

44 Methodology Data sample covered 94 completed or on-going road works contracts in Europe and Central Asia The correlation between independent variables was tested Four diagnostic methods were used for testing the dataset for outliers: Analyses of the (square) residuals Standardized residuals Cook s distance Leverage matrix A backward analysis was used based on the removal of the variable with the highest p-value

45 Resulting regression models Independent variable Coefficient Model 1 Model 2 Country specific variables Project specific variables Dependent variable Constant 9.912* * TICPI 0.256* Climate 0.606* 0.639* GNI 1.406x10-4 * % of local bidders x10-3 * x10-3 * Duration 0.064* 0.044* Ln (road length equivalent) * ** AC cost ($/m3) 0.425* 0.221*** Ln (cost/km) *p-value < 0.01, **p-value < 0.05, ***p-value < 0.1

46 ln (Predicted cost, $) Comparison of predicted and actual cost per km Model ln (Actual cost, $) ln (Predicted cost, $) Model ln (Actual cost, $)

47 Resulting regression models Statistics Model 1 Model 2 R Adjusted R Standard error of the estimate F value Sample size 43

48 Bid Rigging A particular form of collusive price-fixing behavior by which firms coordinate their bids on procurement or project contracts Context: There are two common forms of bid rigging. In the first, firms agree to submit common bids, thus eliminating price competition. In the second, firms agree on which firm will be the lowest bidder and rotate in such a way that each firm wins an agreed upon number or value of contracts. Bid rigging is one of the most widely prosecuted forms of collusion Source:

49 Cesar Queiroz Road and Transport Infrastructure Consultant Former World Bank Highways Adviser Tel Washington, DC, USA

50 Cesar Queiroz, former World Bank Highways Adviser, is an international consultant on roads and transport infrastructure. His main expertise is in public-private partnerships in infrastructure, road maintenance, financing, management and development, performance-based contracts, improving governance, quality assurance and evaluation, research, teaching and training. Between 1986 and 2006, he held several positions with the World Bank, including Lead Highway Engineer and Principal Highway Engineer. Prior to joining the WB, Cesar was the deputy director of the Brazilian Road Research Institute in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He holds a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Texas, a M.Sc. in production engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, and a B.Sc. in civil engineering from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Brazil. Cesar has published two books and more than 130 papers and articles in more than 10 countries. His recent assignments include advisory/training services in countries such as Russia, Brazil, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Moldova, Philippines, Uganda, Tanzania, Sri Lanka, India, Laos, Yemen, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Mozambique, Benin, Serbia, Sweden and Norway. He was a professor of transportation engineering at the Brazilian Military Institute of Engineering in Rio de Janeiro from