Malingha Doya
6 July 2009
opinion
Nairobi — Over the past 10 years, Uganda-bound cargo at Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania has dwindled to record lows.
This is due to inefficiency at the port, a dilapidated railway line and stiff competition from Kenya.
Uganda-bound cargo contributed about 40 per cent of 569,000 tonnes of shipment handled at Tanzania's port in 1998.
The throughput further increased from 224,000 tonnes that year to 270,000 in 2000.
However, cargo to the land-locked country fell to only 67,000 tonnes out of a total throughput of 7.4 million tonnes at Dar es Salaam port in 2008.
At the time Tanzania controlled the market on almost equal terms with Kenya. Authorities from both ports aggressively promoted their services and opened up liaison offices in hinterland areas like Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and eastern DR Congo.
However, due to inefficiencies and the dilapidated railway line in Tanzania, traders shifted their preference to Mombasa port as the main hub. Afterwards, Dar es Salaam closed its port liaison offices in hinterland markets like Uganda.
Most of Uganda's cargo now passes through the port of Mombasa in Kenya.
Tanzania's better performance then was attributed to incentives offered to Ugandan imports and exports, such as a 60-day grace period for fees on transit bonds and security of cargo.
Efficiency was also improved to an extent where transit time from Dar es Salaam to Kampala reduced from three weeks to six days only.
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