ICDs assured of remaining operational at Dar Port despite changes

Dar es Salaam. The government has assured companies including owners and operators of Inland Container Depots (ICDs) that their jobs will be secured if a new investors take over the management and operations of the Dar es Salaam Port.

It said the companies working with the port will, instead, have to expand business to meet the new demands that would come with expanded port operations.

Temeke District Commissioner Mobare Matinyi said this yesterday when he toured ICDs located in the district—Hesu Investment Ltd—to acquaint himself with investments in the district and know businesses that contribute to the economy.

Speaking after the tour, the DC said he had a dialogue with the director of the Dar es Salaam Port where he learned the government has plans to build new berths at the port that include berths 12, 13,14, and 15.

“Presently, we have a Kurasini oil jet which will be extended to Kigamboni to form berths 12 to 15 that will be used for storing fuel, cooking oil and gas,” he said.

The DC said he was not privy how much the expansion will cost but learned during the discussion that construction of one berth costs around $100 million and government plans to do that through foreign direct investments.

He said the government’s projection was to increase exports and imports at the Dar es Salaam Port to 38 million tonnes or more by 2030. “That’s why the government is looking for an investor who will introduce modern and efficient operations,” said the DC.

The DC added that the current data show that exports and imports at the Dar es Salaam port in the financial year 2022/2023 reached 22.2 million tonnes compared to the Mombasa port that stood at 33.74 million tonnes during the same period.

According to the DC, goods from Uganda and Rwanda passing through the Mombasa port stood at 75 percent last year and fell this year to 65 percent after the improved efficiency at the Dar es Salaam port.

He said that President Samia Suluhu Hassan invested in modern heavy duty cranes that cost between Sh40 billion and 50 billion each.

Mr Matinyi said said plans are also underway to invest in rubber-tired cranes that will be supported by folk lifts and other equipment that require an investor with modern technology.

“If the government decides to expand the port itself instead of seeking an investor it will require at least Sh5 trillion to improve berths 8 to 15,” he said.

According to him, landlocked countries, including Uganda, DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe pass 70 million tonnes of goods through ports including the Dar es Salaam port (8.5 million tonnes) and the rest pass through Mombasa, Beira, Maputo, Durban, and Walbis ports.