Merely increasing capacity does not translate to more cargo.... I mean why are ships with Cargo destined for Seychelles dropping them in Mombasa port to be transported by smaller ships yet Seychelles has berths capable of docking big ships? I mean which one do you think is cheaper for a ship from China - drop cargo destined for north Tanzania in Mombasa and travel straight to Dar or stop at Tanga b4 heading to Dar?
lets say we r wasting our funds to cater for Rwanda n Uganda that want that port badly! Afterall the future is promising...
Rwanda depends on Dar, Tanga ports, says envoy
03
Sep 2021
Correspondent
Tanga
News
The Guardian
Rwanda depends on Dar, Tanga ports, says envoy
RWANDA’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Maj Gen Charles Karamba has said his country depends on Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports for both its imports and exports.
RWANDA’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Maj Gen Charles Karamba.
He made the remarks here yesterday when he visited the Port of Tanga during his one-day official visit.
Karamba also visited the Uganda-Tanzania Pipeline Project at Chongoleani and GBP fuel storage facility.
He said the visit stems from trade agreement between Tanzania and Rwanda recently struck by President Samia Suluhu Hassan and her Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.
“In the circumstances I have come here to inspect the progress of the improvement of the infrastructures at the Port of Tanga in the context of the entire port expansion project,” he added.
The envoy said basically he was satisfied with the work going on at the port that reflects good environment for trade operations.
"I’m informed that as of now vessels anchor two kilometres away hence infrastructures have been improved, and is a sign for good economic opportunities between the two countries,” he said.
Representative of Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Director General, Eng Karim Mataka said the ongoing revamping of infrastructures at the port will enable the expansion of services within the entire service delivery at low cost.
Eng Karim said as for now they were looking into how to put in place a friendly environment to investors to use water transport at low cost instead of land transport.
He called on business people in Tanzania’s northern regions of Arusha, Kilimanjaro and Manyara to use the Port of Tanga, especially at this time when its infrastructures have been improved.
Tanga District Commissioner Hasim Mgandila said there has been a long time good relation between the two countries hence the visit of the Rwandan envoy was among the signs that the work in improving the economies of the two countries was going on.
Some of the drivers of trucks who transport limestone clinker from Maweni Limestone Ltd to Rwanda said they were pleased with the services in the entire issue of business operations between the two countries.
“In fact, we receive good services even though there are small problems, Tanzania is a safe country for doing business, Sibomana Celestine, a Rwandan national said.”
RWANDA’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Maj Gen Charles Karamba has said his country depends on Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports for both its imports and exports.
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Kenyan ports lose regional grip as neighbours grow
Dar es Salaam port [Courtesy]
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is always quick to warn neighbours not to dislike Kenya because “she is a pygmy who is an inch taller than her fellow pygmies in East Africa”.
What President Museveni means is that Kenya is a little stronger economically than her neighbours and so they should not be envious over such a trifling.
And indeed, Kenya’s strength is dwindling by the day if the performance of its ports in comparison to its neighbours is anything to go by.
Fresh data from Shippers’ Council of East Africa (SCEA) shows the country is losing cargo business destined to Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, mainly to the Port of Dar es Salaam.
Goods to Uganda through Mombasa port dropped by four per cent in 2021-22 while those to Rwanda plummeted by 30 per cent.
Mombasa and the Port of Dar es Salaam have for decades battled for the lucrative transit business especially to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.
“It is very clear that cargo to Uganda is passing through another route,” said SCEA Chief Executive Gilbert Langat in an interview. He warned Mombasa to brace for stiff competition.
At the same time, major transport projects coming up in Tanzania, Somalia and Djibouti threaten to eat into Mombasa port’s transit market, and dampen the prospects of Lamu Port.
In Tanzania, a port project fronted by China, Oman and Tanzania in Bagamoyo is taking shape. Once complete, it is expected to eat into Mombasa port’s business.
In the Island of Zanzibar, a new port is also being built by
United Arab Emirates, which trade analysts say will threaten Mombasa’s transshipment market.
Meanwhile, a Central Corridor Electric (CCE) Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is being built by Turkey to link Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and DRC shippers to Dar es Salaam.
“The (corridor) will link Burundi, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda to the western side of Tanzania. Shippers from those countries will find it an ideal route to use,” said Mr Langat.
The CCE SGR will be powered by electricity from the Grand Dam in the Selous Game Reserve and Songosongo gas.
Construction of a $3 billion (Sh344.5 billion) dam at Rufiji River is on. “In Tanzania, the Port of Mtwara has made Mombasa very unattractive for transshipment business,” said Tom Nyaminde of Tomsea Logistics Ltd.
Mr Nyaminde said the intense lobbying over the Uganda Oil Pipeline was a sign of trade battles ahead between Kenya and Tanzania once transport projects are completed.
On oil imports, a new oil pipeline is being constructed between Hoima in Uganda and Tanga in Tanzania. The Sh572 billion line is expected to be completed before 2025.
In 2016, Tanzania beat Kenya in the battle for the pipeline, which it had planned to link to Lamu Port. But Kenya has announced that it will go it alone and build the pipeline.
In Kenya, the construction of the Sh40 billion offshore Kipevu Oil Terminal in Mombasa, the largest of its kind in Africa, is also 96 per cent complete.
The offshore terminal will be able to load and offload very large sea tankers of up to 200,000 Deadweight tonnage (DWT) carrying all categories of petroleum products including crude oil, white oils and LPG.
Meanwhile, Somalia is also expanding its port of Berbera in Somaliland. The first terminal with a capacity of 500,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) is about to be completed.
The port is expected to target the Ethiopian market through the Berbera road whose construction is funded by the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development and the UK’s Department of International Development.
At the same time, UK Aid is also funding the construction of the Hargeisa Bypass Road that will link to the modern highway in the Ethiopian side.
This is expected to be a direct, fast and efficient trade route for Ethiopian transit cargo. Kenya’s new port of Lamu is also targeting the Ethiopia market.
But the competition for the lucrative Ethiopian market will not be between Kenya and Somalia alone. Djibouti has also upped its fight for the Ethiopian Market.
A 752-kilometre Ethio-Djibouti railway line seen as a key route for passengers and cargo to and from Ethiopia is currently operational.
Interviews with players in the shipping industry reveal that Djibouti has been able to attract both cargo and military bases because it is located between Somalia, Eritrea, and Yemen.
Djibouti is also located near the Bab el Mandab Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden; a critical corridor for international shipping.
It is approximately 900 kilometres from Djibouti Port to Addis Ababa compared to 1,279 kilometres from Lamu Port.
This means that Kenya’s Lamu Port will have to compete with Djibouti and Durban in South Africa for the transshipment business.
Kenya Ports Authority has offered generous promotional tariffs to shipping lines and shippers keen to use Lamu Port.
Traders in Mombasa, however, say Mombasa and Lamu can still compete and get the business if the government puts in place systems to bolster efficiency.
Mombasa has for years been beleaguered by inefficient cargo clearance processes causing delays and rendering the port expensive and uncompetitive.
This scenario, blamed on cumbersome documentation, cargo clearance and customs procedures has contributed to the high costs of transport along the Northern Corridor.
According to a report by the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority, different state agencies have not integrated their on-line systems.
The report reveals that clearing processes at port, container freight stations and customs procedures remain the main sources of delay and high logistics costs.
“There are more than twenty-nine clearance steps to import containers through Mombasa port which are destined for the Kenyan market, and twenty-seven steps for clearance for transit containers,” the report reads.
“Overall, the multiple and duplicated steps which are required to clear both local and transit containers illustrate the reasons for delays along the logistics chain, and the reason why clearance is the leading barrier to smoother transit flow in the region.”
Kenya’s strength is dwindling by the day if the performance of its ports in comparison to its neighbours is anything to go by.
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