Ex-ante cost-benefit analyses should include realistic counterfactual assumptions regarding the country’s road maintenance and rehabilitation. In Ghana, the evaluation team pointed out that a “do nothing” scenario was not a realistic counterfactual for the N1 Highway activity. As the N1 was a high profile and high traffic roadway, it is not realistic that the Government of Ghana, absent MCC, would have allowed the road to deteriorate completely.
Lesson Learned