Huge cargo rise envisaged at Mwanza Port

THE sixth phase government’s drive to improve Mwanza North and Mwanza South ports of Lake Victoria is set to massively increase the volume of cargo and open up the East African region.

Envisioned in the government’s drive is an increase in cargo transport business and hence intra-East African Community (EAC) member countries – Kenya, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), directly or indirectly.

Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA)’s Lake Victoria Ports Manager, Mr Ferdinand Nyathi said here yesterday that in the big picture, the ports see a lot of positives and there will be an enormous boost in the use of marine transportation instead of roads.

Mr Nyathi said that a few years ago the vessels through the port used to receive only about 1,000 or a bit more of charcoal cargo that was brought to Mwanza Port by big trucks from Ruvuma, but with some improvements, TPA now ships up to 3,000 tonnes per month.

Charcoal being a sensitive cargo, TPA has constructed a holding ground for it at Mwanza South Port, before being loaded and shipped to Kenya. He said there are traders who are ready to do more business with the Port and was of the view that when one more ship is renovated and becomes operational the luggage may hit even 10,000 tonnes.

“There are still some proposals in the improvement project of Mwanza North Project and are now in the Attorney General (AG)’s office for vetting about the contractors but I won’t mention any, although we know by this month the chosen one will be handed over the site,” said Mr Nyathi.

He noted that the project’s cost is almost 20bn/-, adding that the objectives are to accommodate the massive MV Mwanza ‘Hapa Kazi Tu’ and the other huge ship that will be operational in the near future. The improvement also targets to increase the volume of cargo, number of ships as well as passengers.

The Port Manager said the government has invested a lot in different fronts, such as education and awareness of how to handle each kind of cargo and ongoing now is the work of identifying and consequently procure needed equipment for the ports, so as to increase efficiency and attract even more clients.

Mr Nyathi said Lake Victoria serves a role of linking different countries commercially, saying Tanzania exports to Uganda through the lake things like agricultural goods and others. Uganda, on the other side, brings in through the port edible oil, cosmetics, iron sheets, wires, iron bars, tiles and other goods.

He noted that Mwanza Port has come to be popular in handling cargo due to many factors, one of them being honesty among the staff. The manager assured all customers and potential customers within and outside the country that everything is keenly secured. He said TPA works closely with Tanzania Revenue Authority (TPA), Tanzania Police Force and other security organs.