Malawi still tops transit cargo growth at Dar port

Dar es Salaam. Malawi has topped the growth of cargo transit at the Port of Dar es Salaam over the last four years, Tanzania Port Authority (TPA) reports show.

The TPA Performance report shows that during the period of four years starting in 2013 to 2017, the traffic cargo transit to and from Malawi grew at an average of 19.3 per cent.

“This positive growth rate was due to political stability and good business relations between Tanzania and Malawi,” the Port of Dar es Salaam manager, Mr Freddy Liundi, said during a meeting with members of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) yesterday.

Figures also show that Malawi was followed by Rwanda whose transit traffic goods through the Dar port grew at an average of 11 per cent.

Mr Liundi said the adoption of the East African single customs territory and establishment of TPA liaison office in Kigali are the main factors stimulating the growth of cargo transit to and from Rwanda.

“Rwandan importers and exporters no longer need to travel to Dar es Salaam for clearance of their cargoes because we have offices in Kigali,” he said.

He added: “Political will between President Kagame (Paul) and Dr Magufuli (John) to stimulate business and investments between Rwanda and Tanzania has so far made a huge contribution to the rise of cargo volume.”

According to the report, Burundi came in third as its transit cargo traffic through the Dar port was growing at an average rate of 4.4 per cent while Uganda were fourth with an average growth of 2.6 per cent during the reviewed period.

Zambia and DRC Congo also recorded a growth of 2.4 per cent and 1.3 per cent respectively.

The report has generally shown that the overall transit cargo traffic to and from six countries have been increasing at an average of 4.6 per cent annually.

The Port Performance Report has also shown that traffic for transit cargo grew to 5.23 million tonnes in 2017 from 4.37 million tonnes in 2013.