DAR ES SALAAM has become an IT export hub to over 11 countries in Africa with the coming of Despech Africa EPZ Limited at the Benjamin Mkapa Export Processing Zone.

The company imports the machines, some before being dressed down and does repackaging at the EPZ for exporting to the rest of Africa. The first consignment arrived in the country two weeks ago, according to the company's sales Manager, Mr Wilson Nassari.

Speaking at the 36th Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF), he said they have already started exporting to serve Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Mozambique, Zambia, Congo, Malawi and Eritrea. We are using Dar es Salaam as a hub for export and put our security seals before they go into those countries. Printers, anti virus, external discs, flash discs. They are IT products from hardware and still consumables" he said.

Their competitive advantage, he said, is prices and products, noting that timing was also important to them. "From EPZ at Mabibo External in Dar es Salaam, you order for cargo from any of those countries, it will be on the way to you on the following day," he said. Despec Africa EPZ limited is a leading international IT distribution company.

Despec Europe is now recognized as a Fine Distributor, as specialised to ship boxes as opposed to pallettes for SMB customers. Despec Europe is a subsidiary of Despec Group. Belonging primarily to DIFC Investments, a financing company in Dubai, Despec Group subsidiaries also include affiliates in the Benelux, France, England, Turkey, Africa and the Middle East.

Despec Group has 400 employees, 13.000+ innovative premium brand products, Proud partner of 100+ market leading suppliers15.000+ resellers worldwide. It becomes one of the latest businesses at the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA)'s among other projects expect to change Dar es Salaam to a more prominent business hub.

The EPZ Investors Facilitation Officer Lameck Borega also said at the ongoing DITF yesterday that a similar programme to change Bagamoyo into an export hub already has a master plan, whose budget currently stands at 400bn/-, to serve as a Special Economic Zone (SEZ), complete with the requisite infrastructure to support economic activities.

The project involves the development of a new port at Mbegani, a new Bagamoyo airport, major roads, industrial areas, trade areas and tourism attraction sites, as well as residential areas and facilities for social activities. He said construction of the proposed Mbegani port, airport and other transport infrastructure in the district would go a long way in supporting the import and export trade not only for Tanzania, but also for the country's landlocked neighbours in the East African Community and beyond.

He said that more than 15,400 direct jobs for local people have been created since the Authority was established in 2006.

There also have been hundreds of thousands of indirect beneficiaries from the EPZ system within the country and abroad. There are over 48 investors in the system, who have injected over US$670 million in working capital so far.

Last year, EPZ operators exported products worth more than US$380 million, compared with US$130 million-worth of exports in 2010. Processing activities are grouped in three main categories. These are agro products (fruits, textiles, cotton lint; precious minerals and leather industry products.

Meanwhile, a Morogoro based cloth making Export Processing Zone (EPZ) exporting clothes to the United States markets expects to scale up its production capacity following increment of orders from its clients. The company, Mazara fabric, employing 1400 worker offering is also now giving sub contracts to A to Z. "The quality is good and that is why we are able to be sustained globally.The company has 1400 workers at the Morogoro plant" he said.