Ugandan President, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni is now opting to fully make use of Dar-es-salaam Port in Tanzania for ferrying all his country’s export and import cargo.
That was among the agreements reached between the Ugandan Head of State and President Samia Suluhu Hassan, during the former’s three-day state visit to Tanzania.
Following the visit, Uganda and Tanzania have also agreed to open Tanzania Harbours Authority (Dar Ports) offices in Kampala to further smoothen the deal.
Now, it seems Museveni is retracting his former idea of using River Nile to channel Ugandan bound Cargo from Overseas as previously stated during his address to members of the East African Legislative Assembly in Arusha back in 2008.
“River Nile is very navigable, in fact Uganda can easily use it for transporting import and export goods, were it not for some hostile leaders in the countries located downstream.”
President Museveni’s address to East African Legislative Assembly in Arusha (2008)
But that was many years ago.
Fast-Forward to the late November 2021 and President Museveni will be in Tanzania, inspecting Dar-es-salaam Port, which for years has been handling Ugandan cargo, albeit on lower scale.
He is no longer interested in sailing the continent’s longest river to deliver goods home. Museveni would rather receive them at Dar-es-salaam instead.
Dar-es-salaam it is the fourth largest port along the Indian Ocean coastline of Africa, after Durban, Mombasa and Maputo.
Dar es Salaam port has a rated capacity of 4.1 million Deadweight dry cargo and 6.0 million bulk liquid cargo.
The facility serves landlocked countries like Rwanda, Uganda, Malawi, Zambia, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Uganda transports an average of 368,000 tonnes of cargo per year, through the Dar es Salaam Port. Under the new arrangements, this capacity is likely to increase if not double altogether.
Over 80 percent of Uganda imports and exports have been passing through the Mombasa Port of Kenya.
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