Tanzania: Railway Project Benefits Dar Es Salaam

Termination of the government concession to Uganda's Rift Valley Railways now blamed for holding back upgrading of the railway section between Port Bell and Kampala is a blessing to business along the Central Corridor through Dar es Salaam Port.

The Uganda-Kenya railway concessionaire owned by

Cairobased Qalaa Holdings, has had a fair share of problems, mostly financial and managerial, in the recent past, which prompted termination of the concession, originally set to run until 2030.

Meanwhile, the Mwanza- Port Bell-Kampala remains an important link for the central corridor which now ferries between 200,000 and 300,000 metric tonnes of cargo from Tanzania to Uganda through the Dar es Salaam port.

Rift Valley is also blamed for stalling improvement of Port Bell-Kampala stretch, resulting into high transportation through roads. As a result, cargo from Mwanza to Port Bell has been costly since 'loose cargo' packed in trucks is expensive compared to containerised cargo which is transported through wagons through Lake Victoria.

With the planned facelift of the Port Bell-Kampala railway line and the cancellation of the RVR concession, industry sources are upbeat of increased cargo to and from Uganda through Tanzania. The Acting General Manager of Mwanza-based TanzaniaMarine Services (TMS), Mr Eric Hamissi, welcomed the development as a "blessing for the central corridor."

"Once the stretch from Port Bell is improved we'll be able to ferry goods from Mwanza to Uganda using our ships such as MV Umoja," he explained. "Uganda's annual tonnage stands at about seven million tonnes and with such development Tanzania is best placed to increase its share of shipment from and to Kampala," the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA)'s Corporate Communications Manager, Ms Janet Ruzangi, stated.

Responding to queries by 'Daily News', Ms Ruzangi explained that the authority had acquired a piece of land in Mwanza where it plans to set up an inland container depot (ICD), banking on envisaged increased shipments from and to the land-locked country. According to an advert placed in the press yesterday, the Uganda Railway Corporation (URC) explained that the concession was ended effective January 25, this year.

"All freight and passenger operations that were hitherto being carried out Rift Valley Railways are now under the control of Uganda Railway Corporation (URC)," the former announced in the advert, signed by its Managing Director, Mr Charles Kateeba.

Adding; "For avoidance of doubt, please note that Rift Valley Railways or its agents are not authorised to carry one railway services in Uganda." The Ugandan parastatal further explained that arrangements were underway to restore freight and passenger operations by February 10, this year. Ending of the concession by Uganda is another blow to the Cairo-based private consortium following the cancellation of the contract it had entered with the Kenyan government to operate Kenya Railways through a High Court ruling, last year.

President John Magufuli and his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni agreed towards the end of last year to refurbish the old railway line from Port Bell to Central Kampala as an alternative route for transporting goods. The revamp will be an extension of the repaired railway from Dar-es-Salaam to Mwanza, which connects to Port Bell through Lake Victoria.

During a meeting at the Masaka State Lodge in November last year, Dr Magufuli and Mr Museveni assigned technical teams from both countries to follow up on assignments which will bolster trade. "The Port Bell-Kampala railway line is crucial towards addressing problems of costly road transportation for a high volume of trade," Mr Museveni stated.

In July last year, before the meeting between the two leaders, Tanzania and Uganda signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Joint ministerial co-operation for improvement of ports, Lake Victoria inland waterways and railway transport services

Faster growth in mining, natural gas and construction activities propelled Tanzania’s economy higher in the third quarter of 2017, the statistics agency has said. East Africa’s third-biggest economy grew 6.8 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter compared with 6.2 per cent in the same quarter in 2016, the State-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001268681/tanzania-says-its-gdp-growth-rises-to-6-8-per-cent

Faster growth in mining, natural gas and construction activities propelled Tanzania’s economy higher in the third quarter of 2017, the statistics agency has said. East Africa’s third-biggest economy grew 6.8 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter compared with 6.2 per cent in the same quarter in 2016, the State-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001268681/tanzania-says-its-gdp-growth-rises-to-6-8-per-cent

aster growth in mining, natural gas and construction activities propelled Tanzania’s economy higher in the third quarter of 2017, the statistics agency has said. East Africa’s third-biggest economy grew 6.8 per cent year-on-year in the third quarter compared with 6.2 per cent in the same quarter in 2016, the State-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) said.
Read more at: https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001268681/tanzania-says-its-gdp-growth-rises-to-6-8-per-cent