Stakeholders chat ways towards improvement of central corridor performance

Dar es Salaam. Trade, transport and logistics stakeholders are chatting possible ways to improve performance of the central corridor by reducing both time and cost.

It was noted that the central corridor which stems from the port of Dar es Salaam has slightly higher costs compared to the northern corridor.

"There are many initiatives taken by the government to improve transport system along this corridor but we need to think what we can do to increase efficiency and reduce cost," said the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency executive secretary Dieudonnē Dukundane.

The port of Dar es Salaam handled more than 15.5 million tonnes of cargo in 2018 and over 20 per cent of it was in transit to neighbouring countries, mainly through the central corridor.

However, the performance monitoring report launched on Monday June 24, 2019 indicated that dwelling time was increasing at the port.

 The report indicates for example the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) average transit container dwell time was nine days in 2016  going up to 14 days in 2018.

The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communication Dr Leonard Chamuriho stated government commitment towards solving the challenges to improve the performance of the corridor.

He mentioned some of the government effort including expansion of the Dar es Salaam port berths, rehabilitation of meter-gauge railway and construction of the standard gauge railways.

“The efforts clearly show government willingness to invest in the corridor to attract more trade and investment and, therefore, making the corridor competitive,” he said.

Trade Mark East Africa country director for Tanzania Mr John Ulanga said his organization was working with the government and other stakeholders to ensure efficiency in rails, roads and ports.

“Tanzania is bordered by many landlocked countries and there is a potential for the transport sector to become the biggest contributor to the gross domestic product (GDP),” said Mr Ulanga.