According to the Tanzania Ambassador to China, Abdulrahaman Shimbo, a swift and efficient negotiation process under the Big Results Now (BRN) initiative will result in an early start to construction of Tanzania Bagamoyo Port, which will now begin this year, ahead of the originally scheduled January 2015 launch.
The initial agreement estimates that construction of the new Tanzania port will cost USD 10 billion and will be completed in phases over a period of 30 years.
The first phase of construction will see the completion of the quay side, the container yard, the dust cargo terminal and the dredging by 2017 with an upgraded capacity to handle 20 million containers a year, thereby making the port the largest on eastern coast.
Construction of the port is in line with the country’s plan to establish a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Bagamoyo in an effort to foster economic development through promotion of exports and, according to reports, the Tanzania Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) is expected to be fully in place within the first 10 years of construction.
The primary investor in the construction and development of the Bagamoyo Port is China Merchants Holdings International (CMHI), the world largest independent port operators