The World Bank said on Sunday it had approved a $345 million loan for the expansion of a Dar es Salaam port which the East African country aims to turn into a regional gateway
The Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DSMGP) will be undertaken by China Harbour Engineering Construction Company (CHEC), a subsidiary of the state-run China Communications Construction Company Ltd. The project was expected to be completed in 36 months.
Bella Bird, the World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Burundi and Somalia, said the Dar es Salaam port was vital for the economies of Tanzania and landlocked neighbors such as Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
She said the upgrading of the port will enhance its operational potential and boost trade and job creation across the region.
"The project will also reduce the current cost of 200-400 U.S. dollars for each additional day of delay for a single consignment," said Bird.
The port of Dar es Salaam currently has 11 berths, with seven of these dedicated to general cargo and four to container operations.
The port handled 13.8 million tons in 2016 up from 13.1 million tons in 2013 and 10.4 million tons in 2011 reflecting an average growth of 9 percent per year over the last five years while recent numbers indicated a slowdown.
"The project represents the start of an incremental process towards increasing the capacity of the port of Dar es Salaam and strengthening its economic role in the region," Richard Martin Humphreys, the World Bank's lead transport economist, said in a statement.
In a 2014 report, the bank said inefficiencies at the port was costing Tanzania and its neighbors up to $2.6 billion a year.
The statement said ongoing infrastructure investments at the port were expected to improve overall productivity and reduce waiting time to berth from 80 hours to 30 hours.
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