Tanzania’s seaport operations are set for a major overhaul after private investors took over the running of the maritime assets with plans to shore up the efficiency and competitiveness of the Dar es Salaam port in the fight for regional businesses with the port of Mombasa.
The refurbishment of Dar port has seen the number of containers entering the inland container depot (ICD) increase by more than 16 fold to 100 containers in 12 hours from six within the same amount of time, while the number of containers ferried by a single truck in 24 hours to 36 hours has increased from one to six.
“It is beneficial to the port because I can see a lot of competition by the private sector. It is a sign of improvement for the port,” says Emmanuel Mallya, an expert in port issues in Tanzania.
“We are seeing positive prospects for the growth of the port. We used to bring to our ICD six containers for 12 hours. Now for 12 hours we are bringing more than 100.”
Dar Port and Mombasa Port play pivotal roles in the East African maritime trade, serving as primary gateways for international trade, facilitating the smooth flow of goods and functioning as transhipment hubs within the region.
The two ports' efficiency affects regional integration, economic growth and trade.
Port users are already seeing early dividends in the shift to allow private players to run the port at a time when Tanzania is working to attract more cargo to its shores.
According to Mr Mallya, a truck initially used to take between 24 hours to 36 hours to bring one container to the ICD but things are changing and currently one truck brings up to six containers.
“All our inland container yards are now full of containers. We don’t know where to send additional ones,” he says.
Dar port serves countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Eastern DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Uganda while Mombasa caters to Uganda, South Sudan, Northeastern DRC, Burundi, and Rwanda.
Tanzania has handed over the operations and management of its maritime sea assets to Dubai’s DP World and India’s Adani International Ports Holdings (AIPH) for a period of 30 years.
The country hopes to overhaul the performance of its maritime assets and strategically position Dar port to compete effectively with the port of Mombasa.
Mombasa port bypassed its main regional competitors, Djibouti and Dar es Salaam in the latest World Bank global ports index over ship delays and non-tariff barriers.
The Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) 2023, shows that the port of Dar es Salaam dropped 55 places from 312 to 367, blamed on inefficiencies while increasing business bottlenecks in the Djibouti port, a facility touted as the region’s maritime hub, resulted in a drastic drop from position 26 in 2022 to 379 in 2023.
DP World and the Tanzanian government signed a deal in October 2023 for the Emirati logistics company to manage two-thirds of Dar es Salaam port for the next 30 years. Under the deal, DP World will operate and modernise the multi-purpose Dar Port.
DP World will initially invest more than $250 million to upgrade the port and the investment could increase to $1 billion during the concession period, alongside hinterland logistics projects.
The agreement aims to optimise the port’s operations to improve transport and logistics services throughout Tanzania and its hinterland.
Adani has also been granted a 30-year concession to manage Dar es Salaam port’s Container Terminal 2, which includes four berths and has an annual cargo handling capacity of 1 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Units.
With this development, foreign investors now control eight out of 12 berths at the facility.
Kenya is also considering privatisation initiatives for multiple berths at the Mombasa and Lamu ports.
Last year, the Kenya Port Authority invited investors to express their interest in leasing port infrastructure through public-private partnerships.
Dar Port, handles 90 percent of Tanzania’s trade, clearing $15 billion of merchandise annually.
DP World has begun to enhance the port's efficiency with new equipment and systems, promising significant economic benefits for Tanzania and its neighbouring countries.
Recently, the port witnessed the operation of ship-to-shore cranes for the first time, powered by mega generators moved into the terminal by DP World.
This new infrastructure enabled the completion of the first sulfur vessel in a record four days, marking a historic milestone for the port.
Additionally, the modernisation efforts have allowed the longest vessel ever to dock at the port.
Stakeholders have praised the port's transformation, attributing the increased port revenue to the modernised infrastructure and effective management now in place.
