Adani Ports announces signing of 30-year contract to operate container terminal at Dar es Salaam Port

Dar es Salaam. Adani International Ports Holdings Pte Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ), has announced the signing of a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to operate and manage container terminal II at the Port of Dar es Salaam.

TPA director general Plasduce Mbosa, when contacted for comment, neither denied nor confirmed the signing of the deal, stating that they would issue a statement soon.

According to the statement, Container Terminal 2 (CT2), with four berths, boasts an annual cargo handling capacity of one million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs).

In 2023, it managed 0.82 million TEUs of containers, estimated to be 83 percent of Tanzania’s total container volumes.

Additionally, East Africa Gateway Limited (EAGL) has been incorporated as a joint venture between AIPH, AD Ports Group, and East Harbour Terminals Limited (EHTL), with APSEZ serving as the controlling shareholder and consolidating EAGL on its books.

EAGL has signed a Share Purchase agreement to acquire a 95 percent stake in Tanzania International Container Terminal Services Limited (TICTS) from Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (and its affiliate Hutchison Port Investments Limited) and Harbours Investment Limited for a total of $39.5 million.

TICTS currently owns all port handling equipment and employs the manpower, while Adani will operate CT2 through TICTS.

APSEZ managing director Karan Adani, expressed confidence in the venture, stating, “The signing of the concession for Container Terminal 2 at Dar es Salaam Port is in line with APSEZ’s ambition of becoming one of the largest port operators globally by 2030.”

“We are confident that with our expertise and network in ports and logistics, we will be able to enhance trade volumes and economic cooperation between our ports and East Africa. We will strive to transform Dar es Salaam Port into a world-class port,” he added.

In February, it was announced that Adani International Port Holdings Pte Limited (AIPH), was on a move to expand its business interests in Dar es Salaam Port with the acquisition of TICTS.

Before this acquisition, AIPH was running four container handling berths (8 to 11) as a service provider at the Dar es Salaam Port, after the expiration of their five-year contract between the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) and TICTS, which is also a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd.

In August 2023, TPA invited bids from companies to operate the container terminal at the Port of Dar es Salaam.