Angela Normino
Cargo figures in the Dar es Salaam port to most of its hinterland markets has grown in recent years, but Tanzanian ports chiefs are uneasy about the share of transit traffic destined to Uganda, which has stagnated at two percent, despite the port’s multimillion-dollar investment to compete with Kenya’s Mombasa.
According to the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), Mombasa still accounts for 80 percent of Uganda’s cargo, as the Central Corridor continues to grapple with infrastructure challenges, high transport costs and slower clearance at the port.
Under the $421 million Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP) – implemented since 2017 – Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) invested to upgrade the facility, to widen and deepen the port’s berths and entrance channels to enable post-panamax size vessels to call at the port.
The authority also invested in a new roll-on, roll-off vessel terminal, among many other service facilities all meant to enhance the port’s overall performance, leading to container traffic to grow at an average rate of 12 percent per annum, and transit traffic at an average rate of 23.5 percent per annum since 2020.
These growth numbers saw the World Bank last year rank the Dar port above its main regional competitor, Mombasa, in port efficiency ranking.
he ranking, however, has not translated into increased traffic to Uganda, as the Dar-Mwanza-Port Bell leg of the Central Corridor has failed to break the dominance of Mombasa by giving significant competition to take a share of traffic that would be bound for the hinterland via the Northern Corridor.
These issues came to the fore at a recent workshop in Kampala that TPA held under the theme “Facilitating an Efficient Logistics System Through the Central Corridor” to court Ugandan businesses to switch to Dar.
Juma S Kijavara, TPA deputy director-general, conceded that Dar currently handles only two percent of Ugandan cargo traffic, blaming it on inefficiencies on the corridor, like the road-user fee, and inadequate capacity on rail and inland waterways.
“TPA strongly believes that the success of the Central Corridor and the ultimate increase in cargo throughput that is destined to Uganda as a transit market can only be realised when all the relevant stakeholders, both in Tanzania and Uganda, work together in unison,” Mr Kijavara said.
Available data shows that since 2020, the Democratic Republic of Congo has dominated the transit traffic volumes on the Central Corridor’s Dar-Kigoma route, accounting for 42 percent of the total transit traffic, followed by Zambia with 23 percent.
Other users of the corridor are Rwanda (19 percent), Malawi (seven percent) and Burundi (six percent).
But Tanzania is laying the red carpet for Ugandan businesses, offering incentives, including 30-days free storage for all imports and a dedicated goods-shed at the port which can be used as a consolidation and deconsolidation centre any time.
Although this contrasts well with Mombasa port, which offers only 15 days free storage, Ugandan traders cite other factors that lower the Central Corridor’s ranking relative to the Northern Corridor, including the route’s cost effectiveness, robust transport infrastructure, ease of getting port and truck passes, and cargo clearance within the port of Dar es Salaam.
Julius Byaruhanga, director of policy and business development at the Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU), told the TPA chiefs that Dar is second-best when Ugandan business community weighs its cost-effectiveness and efficiency against Mombasa.
For instance, Ugandans transporting cargo to Kampala spend about $4,500 to transport a container from Dar for 4.5 days, compared with $3,000 from Mombasa for three days. Mombasa also clears cargo within one day, while Dar averages two days for cargo clearance.
Additional Source:East Africa News
