Kurasini Park project stalls as government shifts focus

Dar es Salaam. The government has dropped the Kurasini Trade and Logistic Centre project in order to expand the congested Dar es Salaam port, The Citizen has learnt.

In August 2021, the government floated a tender calling for competent strategic investors to develop the Kurasini Industrial, Trade and Logistics Park project on a standard lease arrangement.

Since that time, the government has kept quiet about the project, which aimed to serve as a centre for enhancing Tanzania’s important agricultural products before export.

After that, the public was left in the dark regarding the project’s status. The first phase, which comprised building a fence and infrastructure, began in September 2021 at a cost of Sh30 billion after a contract with Suma JKT was signed.

However, speaking yesterday to The Citizen, Investment, Trade and Industry deputy minister Exaud Kigahe clarified that the project was not abandoned, but rather shifted to the Kwala dry port in Kibaha, Coast Region to give the Dar port a breathing space.

He said that after it is finished, the project, which is now known as Kwala Industrial Parks, will draw more than 300 diverse industrial firms.

According to Mr Kigahe, this will lead to the development of more than 500,000 indirect jobs in addition to over 300,000 direct jobs.

He continued by noting that the project, whose execution began last year, is anticipated to become operational by next year.

Currently, he stated that the government was developing an enabling infrastructure at the parks to foster a favourable business environment.

This paper understands that Sino-Tanzania Company is a custodian of the Industrial parks, suggesting that through it (Sino-Tan), investors from any country can set up a factory. “Already a number of investors have started showing interest in setting up factories at the Kwala Industrial Parks,” said Mr Kigahe without quantifying.

He said if the government continued with the construction of Kurasini Trade and Logistic Centre, the situation of the already congested Dar port would be even worse.

Going by the data from Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), cargo handled through the Dar es Salaam port grew by 21.4 percent in the last four years.

The Dar port handled 17 million metric tonnes (MT) in 2021, up from 14 million tonnes recorded in 2017, thanks to expanded capacity, marketing drive, recovery from Covid-19 and an enabling business environment.

Setting Kwala Industrial Parks at the Kwala Dry Port will help to reduce congestion at the Dar Port because it will store on-transit cargo to neighbouring countries of Burundi, Rwanda, DR Congo, Uganda, Zambia and Malawi.

This suggests that unlike it would have been with the Kurasini Trade and Logistic Centre, the products produced at the Kwala Industrial Parks’ will not have to pass via the Dar port in order to be shipped to those markets.

The DR Congo is the Dar Port’s biggest client, bringing in about three million tonnes of transit freight, followed by Zambia with two million tonnes and Rwanda with roughly 1.5 million tonnes.

Tanzania Trucks Owners Association (Tatoa) chairman Elias Lukumay welcomed the new move by the government, saying the expansion of the Dar port will increase efficiency and attract more cargo.

“We welcome everything that has to do with effectiveness. By reducing vessel dwell time with the port extension, efficiency will increase,” said Mr Lukumay.

He added that shortening the vessel’s dwell time will lower demurrage charges, whose victims have always been the eventual consumer of the product.

Tanzania Business Community director for communications Stephen Chamle welcomed the government’s decision to come up with the Kwala Industrial Parks, saying it will stimulate the country’s economy.

“The factories to be constructed will be adding value to our raw-materials, this is of paramount importance in shaping our economy,” Mr Chamle told The Citizen yesterday.

He urged members of the business community to be proactive in grabbing the available abundant opportunities at the Kwala Industrial Parks.

According to him, opportunities include developing hotels, rental homes, and transportation. “There will be a tremendous amount of business. Thus, this will boost both the economy of the Coast Region and that of the entire nation,” he concluded. Efforts to get comments from TPA proved futile.

Private investors were planning to build agro-processing facilities, production facilities for assembly facilities for electronic goods, machinery, automotive equipment, and other consumables at the Kurasini Trade and Logistic Centre before the government modified its initial plan.

The area would also include warehouse, light assembly and processing factory buildings, banking halls, agro-processing facilities (storage and value addition platforms), administration and office buildings, hotel, restaurants, and parking facilities.