THE Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) is set to implement the recommendations of the comprehensive national port development plan and the port improvement and management programme, which is a national plan.

Through the 2020 – 2045 plan and the National Projects Management Information System (NPMIS), registered in October 2023 under the name Tanzania Ports Development and Management Programme, TPA, earmarked ten strategic projects.

Addressing a press conference on the implementation of activities by the port’s authority, in Dodoma yesterday TPA director general, Plasduce Mbossa, said the projects are at different phases.

He said oil reception and storage project, whose implementation has reached 17 percent and costs $265 million. Upon completion, this project will reduce the time required to serve ships with the capacity of 150,000 DWT from ten days to three days.

There is also the construction of a railway terminal and its network within the port of Dar es Salaam, costing $119.955 million. Once completed, this project will reduce by 98 percent the cargo departing from the port via road transport, thereby alleviating traffic congestion of trucks inside and outside the port.

Another project is construction of two berths with a total length of 500 meters at a cost of $250 million, which upon completion, will allow the simultaneous docking of two ships of 50,000 DWT at these berths.

At the same time the construction of a special island port – Mgao in Mtwara Region for handling hazardous cargo, at a cost of $171 million. “This project aims to prevent environmental hazards and address challenges related to handling such cargo at the port of Mtwara.”, he said.

The plan also earmarked the improvement of berths 8 to 11 at the Dar es Salaam port with a total length of 720 meters and storage areas for containers at a cost of $220 million, aiming to enhance port services.

The DG also told journalists that there are plans for the development of inland ports at Kurasini Logistics Centre and Ihumwa – Dodoma. The projects will cost $157 million and aim to expand areas for operational activities, processing, and temporary storage of cargo.

On the other hand, there is also the development of Kigoma port at a cost of $48.82 million. This project aims to strengthen the economy of the central corridor.

At the same time there is the construction of a dedicated container berth and an oil berth at the port of Tanga, costing $201 million. This project is intended to stimulate development and unlock the potential of the Northern Corridor.

Finally in the plan is the construction of berths 12 to 15 at a cost of $591.564 million, aiming to enhance the efficiency of the port of Dar es Salaam.

“Since the commencement of the sixth phase government, TPA's performance has significantly improved in cargo handling and revenue performance among others” said the DG.

He explained that the total cargo handled by TPA has increased at an average rate of 15.23 percent per year, from 20.78 million tonnes in the 2021/22 financial year to 27.55 million tonnes in 2023/24.

The cargo handled at the Port of Dar es Salaam grew at an average of 13.38 percent annually, from 18.67 million tonnes in 2021/22 to 23.98 million tonnes in 2023/24.

On container cargo, the total number of containers handled has increased at an average rate of 12.9 percent per year, from 823,404 TEUs in 2021/22 to 1,050,486 TEUs in 2023/24.

At the port of Dar es Salaam, container handling increased at an average rate of 10.7 percent per year, from 816,368 TEUs in 2021/22 to 998,872 TEUs in 2023/24.

The total cargo for neighbouring countries handled at the Port of Dar es Salaam has increased at an average rate of 8.5 percent per year, from 7.8 million tonnes in 2021/22 to 9.2 million tonnes in 2023/24.

TPA revenue has increased from 1.1 trn/- in 2021/22 to 1.475 trn/- in 2023/24. In the 2022/23 financial year, the port sector contributed 10.8 trn/-, equivalent to 7.3 percent of the national GDP of 148.3 trn/-.

In the first half of the 2024/25 financial year (July-December 2024), the total cargo handled by TPA ports was 15.49 million tonnes, surpassing the target of 14.60 million tonnes by 6.1 percent and marking an 11.1 percent increase compared to the 13.94 million tonnes handled in the same period in 2023.

Additionally, total container cargo handled was 565,361 TEUs, representing a 4.9percent increase from 539,013 TEUs handled in the same period in 2023.

However, the TPA boss also outlined some of the challenges facing the port sector as insufficient berths to accommodate the increasing number and size of vessels.

Others are aging infrastructure that does not meet modern ship requirements, limited storage and handling areas for cargo and lack of financial resources for infrastructure development.

The rest are inadequate supporting infrastructure (roads and railways) to accommodate cargo growth, some vessels opting for competing ports due to service time and efficiency challenges, lack of modern vessels and water transport equipment and climate change effects impacting lake port operations.