Cargo throughput rose to 27.7 million tonnes in the 2024/25 financial year, up 17% from 23.69 million tonnes a year earlier, according to official data.
Volumes continued to accelerate in the first half of the 2025/26 financial year, with the port handling 16.7 million tonnes between July and December, a 30% increase compared with the same period in 2024.
Government Chief Spokesperson Gerson Msigwa said the gains were driven largely by public-private partnerships that have modernised port infrastructure and streamlined operations.
“As of June 2025, DP World Dar es Salaam Limited had invested about 214.2 billion Tanzanian shillings, while Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited invested 410.4 billion shillings,” Msigwa told a press briefing.
He said the investments had cut vessel turnaround times dramatically, with container ships now spending an average of six days in port, down from about 30 days previously, including waiting time at anchorage.
Operational costs at the port have fallen by an average of 57%, helping the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) lift its profit margin to 78.6% from 66%, Msigwa added.
Improved efficiency has also boosted government revenue, particularly customs collections, which rose 17% to 12.33 trillion shillings in the 2024/25 financial year from 10.55 trillion shillings the year before.
The projects have created jobs, with 764 people directly employed by DP World and TEAGTL as of June 2025, including equipment operators, clerks and security staff.
DP World’s investments have focused on new cargo-handling equipment, rehabilitation of existing machinery, expansion of storage areas and development of modern information technology systems. TEAGTL has upgraded berths 8 to 11, extended the quay by 100 metres and expanded container yards.
Msigwa said the government, through Tanzania Railways Corporation, has also signed a contract to build rail infrastructure inside the port to connect metre-gauge, standard-gauge and TAZARA railway lines.
Once completed, the project is expected to raise the port’s container handling capacity to 480,000 TEUs a year and increase the share of cargo moved by rail to 12% from the current 2%.
Further upgrades will allow the port to handle larger, deeper-draft vessels, including post-Panamax ships of up to 305 metres in length and carrying as many as 8,000 containers, compared with the current limit of about 2,500 TEUs.
Overall cargo handling capacity is projected to rise to about 30 million tonnes from around 16 million tonnes before improvements began in 2017, strengthening Tanzania’s competitiveness against regional ports such as Mombasa, Maputo, Beira, Nacala and Durban, Msigwa said.
Notes to Editors
· Cargo throughput at the Port of Dar es Salaam reached 27.7 million tonnes in the 2024/25 financial year,representing a 17% year-on-year increase.
· In the first half of 2025/26, cargo volumes rose to 16.7 million tonnes, up 30% compared with the same period in 2024.
· Performance gains follow public-private partnerships involving DP World Dar es Salaam Limited and Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited (TEAGTL).
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