On 10 June, the government of Tanzania signed a USD 154 million contact with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), to expand the main port in the country’s capital, Dar es Salaam, with focus in infrastructure projects to boost maritime transport and trade.
The agreement is funded by World Bank and it foresees the construction of a roll-on, roll-off (ro-ro) terminal, as well as the deepening of seven berths at the port.
As East Africa’s second largest economy, Tanzania intends to increase container throughput to 28 million tonnes per year by 2020 (from 20 million tonnes currently). The expansion of the port is expected to allow accommodation of bigger vessels, enhancing competitiveness, in the region’s growing economy. In this way, it is going to mitigate marine congestion problems in the area.
The port’s position is vital as it serves trade in other landlocked African states, such as Zambia, Uganda, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of Congo etc. According to a World Bank report in 2014, the inefficiencies in the main port of Tanzania result in financial damage of the neighbor countries of USD 2,6 billion per year.
At least the creditor is the World Bank as we enter decades of uncertainty.