THE modernization of infrastructure at the port of Dar es Salaam has reduced container handling costs from $8,000 to $3,000 in the past half year, stakeholders affirm.

Khamis Livembe, the national chairman of Tanzania Business Community Association, made this observation in Dar es Salaam yesterday while touring the port with journalists to witness its upgraded operations.

Online sources say that the Tanzania Business Community Association primarily refers to the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA), the widest representative body for the business community countrywide.

TCCIA connects the private sector with the government to advocate for business-friendly policies and promote economic growth, where the chairman acknowledged that two port management firms hired to operate port facilities have played a crucial role in enhancing efficiency.

The average time to offload a single vessel has dramatically dropped, from 23 to 24 days to just three days, he said, citing the introduction of modern cranes and other machinery.

This improvement has also boosted the port's daily offloading capacity to 1,000 containers, with plans to attain 1,500 containers per day in the near future, he said.

Efficiency at the port has significantly lowered freight costs, providing relief to end users, he asserted, while acting port director Abeid Ngalusi accredited investor deployment for transforming port operations.

The waiting time for vessels to dock has been reduced to zero, while offloading times have decreased from ten days to three, he said, hinting at a new challenge where many consignors are not clearing their cargo on time thus igniting congestion.

 "The port is not a storage facility," he said, urging consigners to clear their shipments promptly to make room for others.

The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), which oversees all port functions, directly serves 30 percent of local cargo and 60 percent transit cargo destined for neighboring landlocked countries.

Elitunu Malamia, the DP World (T) corporate affairs manager, pointed at the company’s ambitious goals for the port, hinting that by 2030, the port would be capable of handling 30,000 containers per day.

The port can currently handle 16 large vessels per month berthing upwards of 1000 containers on a daily basis, while by 2030 the figure could be overly multiplied, he said.

In 2023, TPA signed a 30-year concession agreement with DP World to modernize port operations, including lease and operation of berths 4–7 and joint management of berths 0–3 for commercial and governmental activities.

The agreement was signed by TPA CEO Plasduce Mbossa and Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, the firm’s group chairman and CEO.

The port improvements are set to strengthen Tanzania's position as a regional trade hub, benefiting local and international stakeholders and fostering economic growth.