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| Dar Port |
Investors have called for the construction of more ports along the East
African coast, saying the nearer a harbour was the better it is for maritime
business as oceans are the cheapest mode
of transportation.
The Chairman of the CEOs roundtable, Mr Ali Mufuruki, gave the example
of the stretch between Durban and Cape Town in South Africa, which has about 12
ports all meant to facilitate speedy handling of imports and exports.
“The
closer a port is the cheaper it becomes to do import and export business ... we
should have more ports along the East African coast as the existing ones are
not enough,” said Mr Mufuruki.
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| Mr Mufuruki |
Mr Mufuruki also dispelled fears that Dar es Salaam port would lose
business to the dollars 23 billion Lamu port in Kenya, which is currently under
construction and planned to attract much larger fourth generation ships.
“Dar
es Salaam is not going to lose anything as it has got its own advantage,” said
Mr Mufuruki, who is also the Executive Chairman of the InfoTech Investment
Group.
The Minister for Transport, Mr Omar Nundu said Lamu port targets
Ethiopia and South Sudan but Mwambani, near Tanga will serve Uganda, Burundi,
Rwanda and Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries.
“We have
the potential to serve more countries than Lamu port and our preparations are
going on smoothly,” Mr Nundu said.
The minister said the railway link from Tanga to Musoma and
construction of new ports on Lake Victoria at Musoma and Aruba, Uganda are
progressing well.
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| Ambassador Sezibera |
The Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC) Dr
Richard Sezibera said starting December this year EAC will adopt the single
window clearance at entry points to expedite the processing of transit goods
within the region.
“Cargo bound for landlocked EAC member states will no longer be treated
as transit goods,” Ambassador Sezibera said.
The Tanzania Shipping Agents
Association (TASAA) Chairman, Mr Emmanuel Mallya, said whichever comes first
between Lamu and Mwambani would automatically be the hub of East African
freight cargo, leaving the others to serve as mere feeder ports.
“The main advantage of this hub, which needs to be developed, is that
the cost of transport will come down drastically as shipping lines will be able
to deploy the largest possible vessels to minimised the cost per unit,” Mr
Mallya said.
The TASAA Chairman said the crucial point is that the market size
in East, Central and Southern Africa (apart from South Africa) could only
accommodate one such transhipment port. Tanzania is bordered by 10 landlocked
countries, which is an advantage against Kenya.
The Dow Elef International Director of Operations, Marijani Elinaza,
said it’s true that ports complement each other but if a ship docks at Mombasa,
Dar loses wharf, handling, storage and removal charges.
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| Mr Elinaza |
“It’s a tricky business
for clearing and forwarding agents, especially when in a single customs bloc,”
Mr Elinaza said.
“We will lose a lot of business if all consignments are delivered
through Lamu,” he added.
Despite the fact that Mwambani is the best choice for
transhipment port due to its proximity and connectivity to the hinterland, the
pace of development is going at snail’s speed. “Mwambani is still an idea.
There is nothing much,” Dar es Salaam University Lecturer, Dr Haji Semboja,
said, adding; “Kenyans are ahead of us.”
So far, Tanzania and Uganda are planning a 2.7 billion US dollars joint
venture to develop a new railway line and two ports on Lake Victoria to cope
with increased trade from the East African hinterland. Out of the planned
investment, 1.9 billion US dollars is for the railway, 695.5 million US dollars
for the Mwambani port and 72.6 million US dollars for the development of the
Musoma port.
The transhipment ports need land side infrastructure --depots,
warehousing, rail sidings and road connection to hinterland plus housing Export
Processing Zones (EPZ) and Special Economic Zones (SEZ).
Source: The Daily News,www.dailynews.co.tz, reported by Abduel Elinaza
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