Ports

Tanzania Ports

Both sea and inland waterways ports in Tanzania are managed and operated by the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA).

Tanzania Sea Ports

The TPA’s main Indian Ocean ports are Dar es Salaam, Mtwara, and Tanga. Minor seaports serving coastal traffic include Lindi, Kilwa Masoko, Mafia Island, Bagamoyo, Pangani and Kwale.

A new USD 10 billion port project was under development in the Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone (SEZ), 75 kilometres north of Dar-es-Salaam. It is one of the largest government infrastructure projects in the country.

It should be run by the Tanzanian Government with China Holdings Limited and the State General Reserve Fund of Oman.

In addition to the port, this satellite town will include the development of industrial parks, trade parks, technological parks, tourism industry, real estates, logistics centers, financial institutions and an airport.

However, in July 2019 Tanzania’s President Magufuli has halted the construction of the Bagamoyo port, accusing the Chinese counterparts of presenting exploitative and awkward terms in exchange for financing.

Dar es Salaam is Tanzania’s principal port with an intrinsic capacity of 10.1m t per year. The port handles over 92% of the total maritime ports’ throughput.

The port serves land-locked countries of Malawi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda.

These countries are connected to the port through two railway systems (TRL-1.0 metre gauge and TAZARA-1.067 cape gauge), road network as well as the TAZAMA oil pipeline to Zambia.

Tanzania Lake Ports

TPA also operates Tanzania’s lake ports, maintaining around 20 ports on Lake Victoria. Some major ports include Bukoba, Kemondo Bay,Musoma and Nansio.

Principal lake ports on Tanganyika include Kigoma and Kasanga. Additionally, there are 15 smaller ports along the lake.

These ports provide trade connections between Burundi, Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia.

Lake Nyasa has 4 important ports, at Itungi, Mbamba Bay, Liuli and Manda. There are up to 10 other smaller TPA ports on the lake that facilitate passenger movement along the lake and between the countries of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania.