Tanzania has made a bold investment of $421m in the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project, but Uganda remains unimpressed. Will the new investments tilt the weighing scale this time? Photo / Courtesy
For decades, Dar es Salaam Port has fought a lone battle - the battle to chip away a share of regional cargo, largely dominated by Kenya’s Mombasa Port.
Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are East Africa’s largest ports, handling between them 59.1 million tonnes of cargo annually.
But Mombasa attracts the largest share of cargo, handling 41.1 million tonnes in the 12 months to December 2024 compared to 18 million tonnes for Dar es Salaam.
It is this dominance that Dar has for years sought to end – albeit unsuccessfully.
But not the type that gives up easily, Dar has stepped up the pressure - this time betting on fixing a long-standing frustration of the fixed berthing windows system lines - to eliminate the uncertainty of docking schedules plaguing African ports.
The fixed berthing windows ensure that vessels calling at Dar are guaranteed docking slots, allowing them to precisely plan when to arrive, berth, load, and depart, which replaces the traditional "waiting game" common at regional ports, where ships often amble offshore for days, burning fuel and racking up costs.
“The concept is vital in enhancing efficiency and service delivery in our maritime ports sector, strengthening our competitiveness as a regional trade hub,” says Plasduce Mkeli Mbossa, the Tanzania Ports Authority director general.
Ordinarily, ships waiting longer at ports incur demurrage fees, which are extra charges for exceeding the allocated time for loading and unloading. And longer dwell times can lead to increased costs for storage, handling, and other port-related operations.
In today’s global economy, where supply chains have become tighter, cargo turnover times matter more, and penalties for delay can be brutal - such predictability isn’t just an upgrade but a necessity. Traders and shipping lines are under mounting pressure to deliver goods faster, more reliably, and with full visibility across the journey.
And that is why a couple of transport analysts say that ports that can’t adapt to the new pace will have trouble.
In addition, Tanzania has enhanced East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited, introducing real-time container tracking, developing paperless documentation, and expanding cold-chain infrastructure.
The old model - slow, opaque, and unpredictable - wasn’t just an inconvenience; it was a structural weakness that threatened Dar’s plan of becoming a trade powerhouse.
When vessels waited days to berth, the fallout wasn’t limited to wasted fuel or angry shipping firms; it spread through, disrupting supply chains, raising costs, and damaging business confidence across the region.
Since the introduction of the fixed berthing windows system three months ago, Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited has handled 65 vessels, with 32 percent docking under the new schedule - a figure that rose to 48 percent by March, with a target of 75 percent by May.
“This isn’t just an operational shift. It’s about empowering the region’s manufacturing and perishables sectors,” says Shahzad Athar, the Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited director.
On the other hand, Mohamed Salum, the Tanzania Shipping Agencies Corporation director general, says systems such as the fixed berthing windows are critical for building a “resilient, well-regulated maritime industry” that can compete globally.
The ripple effects of predictable vessel scheduling allow importers and exporters to align production and shipping schedules, inventory, and warehousing costs.
It also strengthens export competitiveness, especially for time-sensitive goods such as perishables.
Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited is also betting on digital upgrades to make Dar even more attractive.
For instance, the real-time container tracking system, digital payments between shipping lines, freight agents, and other logistics players, and full digital documentation are a game changer.
“We are also expanding our reefer plug capacity to meet the growing demand for cold-chain logistics. This is particularly important for high-value agricultural exports like avocados,” says Capt Jeyaraj Thamburaj, the Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited chief executive officer.
The underutilized market
Dar es Salaam port has had a consistent increase in cargo volumes, but continues to operate far below capacity.
For all the investments channelled into turning the port into a serious competitor to Mombasa Port, there have been lower returns. For instance, Uganda’s traffic through Dar is just 2 percent, which compares so badly with Mombasa’s nearly 80 percent, according to Kenya Ports Authority.
Tanzania has, over the years, invested $421m in the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project, deepening berths and widening channels to accommodate larger ships, establishing a roll-on and roll-off terminal, and operational improvements to cut delays.
On paper, the investment has brought in some numbers. For instance, container throughput has grown by an average of 12 percent annually, and transit cargo has expanded by around 23.5 percent since 2020.
Yet, Uganda largely remains unimpressed.
The Central Corridor - linking Dar es Salaam to Port Bell via Mwanza - still struggles compared to the Northern Corridor, which connects to Mombasa due to high road-user fees, insufficient rail options, and limited waterway networks.
As a result, moving a container from Dar to Kampala costs around $4,500 (Shs16.4m) over 4.5 days, compared to $3,000 (Shs11m) and just three days via Mombasa.
Worse still, while Mombasa clears cargo within a day, Dar averages two days - a disadvantage for traders dealing in perishables or time-sensitive goods. But other regional neighbours have taken advantage of Dar’s growing capacity.
For instance, DR Congo leads the corridor’s transit traffic, accounting for more than 42 percent of volumes since 2020, followed by Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, and Burundi.
And Tanzania has tried to sweeten the bargain by offering 30 days of free storage for imports - double what Mombasa offers - and building a dedicated goods shed to speed up shipment processing.
Still, incentives alone haven’t been good enough to overcome the cost and efficiency challenges Ugandan traders face.
For Uganda, unlocking greater use of Dar es Salaam hinges on strengthening multimodal transport through the Mwanza link.
Traders argue that expanding railway connections to Mwanza, and ferrying cargo across Lake Victoria in just eight hours, could sharply cut costs and transit times.
This strategy ties neatly into Uganda’s wider infrastructure vision.
At Bukasa, along Lake Victoria’s shores, construction is already underway for a tri-modal inland port that will integrate road, rail, and water transport - connecting Uganda to Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Musoma, and even Kisumu.
With phase one nearing completion, Bukasa Port could finally tilt the trade balance, offering Uganda a faster, cheaper gateway to global markets - and giving the Central Corridor a second shot.
Bukasa will link directly to the Kampala Industrial and Business Park, offering a strategic cargo route across Lake Victoria to Tanzania’s ports of Musoma and Mwanza, as well as Kenya’s Kisumu port.
The goal is to open up cheaper, faster, and more diversified options for Uganda’s imports and exports - critical for a landlocked economy.
Looking beyond
To fully unlock the potential of Lake Victoria, Uganda is looking beyond Bukasa.
The Ministry of Works and Transport is actively seeking private partners to replace the sunken MV Kabalega, modernize Port Bell and Jinja piers, establish search-and-rescue capabilities across inland waters, re-survey Lake Victoria, and install navigational aids.
Each of these is critical not just for efficiency, but for safety and reliability - both essential if Uganda is to truly shift significant cargo volumes onto waterborne transport.
On the other side of the lake, Tanzania is also adjusting its strategy with considerations of public-private partnerships with Ugandan investors to develop inland container depots closer to the border to ease last-mile delivery challenges and make Dar a more attractive option.
Uganda’s import bill hit $12.2b in 2023, growing by 21 percent compared to the previous year.
The volume and value of goods moving into the country continue to climb, underlining the urgent need for diversified, cost-effective trade routes.
Even Uganda’s key export commodities are booming: coffee exports, for example, surged to $167.78m in February 2025, more than doubling, according to Uganda Coffee Development Authority.
In this context, improving transport infrastructure isn’t just a matter of convenience - it’s an economic imperative.
