Why Ugandan importers avoid Dar port
What you need to know:
- Ugandan traders say it was stll cheaper to import goods through Mombasa port in Kenya and challenged authorities in Dar es Salaam to address the matter of higher port charges if they were to woo them to do business there.
Kampala. High transportation costs are the overriding reason Ugandan importers prefer Mombasa Port to Dar es Salaam, according to a Ugandan logistics firm.
For instance, the cost of transporting one container from Dar es Salaam Port to Kampala is around $4,800 (Sh10.6 million) compared to $2,700 (Sh6 million) from Mombasa.
“Tanzania Ports Authority still needs to do much more in order to win our market”, Ms Jennifer Mwijukye, CEO and managing director of Kampala-based UniFreight, said here yesterday.
She told journalists currently visiting selected projects in East African Community (EAC) member countries that Tanzanian ports were also disadvantaged by the distance to Uganda. While Dar es Salaam Port is about 1,600 kilometres from Kampala, where most of the Ugandan imports are destined, Mombasa is 1,200 kilometres away .
Ms Mwijukye said imports through Tanzanian ports would pick up once “major improvements” were done in clearing goods at the shortest time possible at Dar es Salaam Port.
“The cost of transporting goods from Dar es Salaam remains high,” she said, noting that it would take time for Ugandan imports through Tanzania to surpass those passing through Kenya.
Ms Mwijukye acknowledged recent efforts made by TPA to win over Ugandan importers, including the opening of an office in Kampala.
She said, however, that more needs to be done to lower transportation costs and reduce the time it takes to clear imports.
The pendulum may nevertheless swing in Dar es Salaam’s favour upon the completion of the standard gauge railway between Dar es Salaam and Mwanza, which is expected to slash the cost of transporting goods between the two destinations.
Also, two inland ports in Uganda are in the process of being upgraded through the support of the European Union and Germany.
Mr Rishi Vadodaria, managing director of Kampala-based Rene Pharmacy Limited, decried the high cost incurred by drugs makers in transporting raw materials. He said it was cheaper to transport chemicals and spare parts for their plants from India through Mombasa or Dar es Salaam than transporting them directly to landlocked countries.
But transport experts have attributed this reliance on costly overland transportation on the high cost of fuel and vehicle maintenance and regulatory costs imposed by governments in the region.
