The Government of Tanzania and DP World signed three contracts on Sunday entrusting the exploitation of part of the port of Dar es Salaam to the Emirati group for 30 years, within the framework of a controversial agreement in this East African country. These contracts give DP World the right to exclusively manage four of the port’s 12 berths, one of the largest on the continent, and to operate another four in partnership with the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA). The evaluations will be carried out every five years, said TPA director general Plasduce Mbossa.
These contracts are a consequence of an intergovernmental agreement signed last year aimed, according to the Tanzanian government, at improving the productivity of the country’s 80 official ports, by transferring activities to one of the world’s leading port operators, owned by the Tanzanian government. the UAE.
More than 250 million dollars invested in 5 years
The ratification of this agreement by parliament in June sparked strong protests. Its detractors denounce “an abandonment of sovereignty”, in the words of the president of the main opposition party (Chadema), Freeman Mbowe. “We took into account the opinions of different groups before signing this contract,” said Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan during the signing ceremony. DP World’s intervention should make it possible, in particular, to reduce unloading times and develop trade with neighboring landlocked countries (Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Malawi, etc.), she estimates.
DP World CEO Sultan Ahmed bin Soulayem said the concession “will transform the port of Dar es Salaam into a world-class facility,” promising more than $250 million in investments (€236 million) in the coming years. five years.
DP World operates more than 60 ports and terminals worldwide
For a time opposed to this agreement, the signing of the contracts was attended by the leader of the ACT-Wazalendo opposition party, Zitto Kabwe, and the head of the Tanzanian Catholic Church, Charles Kitima. “Some of our proposals have been taken into account,” ACT-Wazalendo explained in a statement, adding: “we still insist that the contract be made public.”
Amnesty International denounced the arrests of opponents of the project in August and stated that 24 people had been detained, some of them released, since June for criticizing the agreement. One of them, lawyer and activist Rugemeleza Nshala, announced in July that he had been forced to flee the country after being subjected to intimidation and death threats. Since his arrival to power in 2021, Samia Suluhu Hassan has demonstrated her desire to break with the authoritarian policy of his predecessor John Magufuli, through a certain relaxation of political freedoms but also an opening to foreign economic investments.
DP World is one of the world’s leading port operators, operating more than 60 ports and terminals worldwide, according to its website.
Source: BFM TV
