Tanzania’s President has launched the project to upgrade the east African nation’s largest port, Dar es Salaam Port. The project is being undertaken by China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) and will allow large vessels to anchor in the port when completed.
A feasibility report for the project shows that the port’s cargo handling capacity will be increased by 26-percent increase over the current capacity.
Tanzanian Foreign Minister Palamagamba Kabudi said last year that the expansion of the Dar es Salaam Port is “a vivid example of Tanzania’s participation in the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, adding that the country is committed to unlocking the potential of interlinked production networks and value chains that are enshrined in the initiative”.
According to the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), the Dar es Salaam Port controls nearly 95 percent of the country’s international trade and serves the neighboring landlocked countries like Malawi, Zambia, Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda. The port serves as a freight linkage to and from East and Central African countries and to the Middle and Far East, Europe, Australia and America.
CHEC says it has provided jobs to 900 Tanzanians and that Tanzanian engineers and trainees working on the project benefit from the technical know-how provided by their Chinese colleagues.
