The Port of Dar es Salaam is on course to surpass 30 million tons of cargo in the 2026–27 financial year, a milestone that underscores how privatization and the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project have become the central engines of its rapid transformation.

At the heart of this growth is a deliberate shift toward private-sector participation, most visibly through the 30-year concession of Container Terminal 2 (CT2).

The terminal, which handles more than 80 percent of the port’s container traffic, is now operated by a consortium that includes East Africa Gateway Limited. This move has effectively placed the port’s most critical asset under a management structure driven by efficiency, investment discipline, and global operational standards.

DP World also runs Terminal 1 (berths 0–7) under a 30-year concession with the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA). Rather than incremental reform, privatization has enabled a wholesale reconfiguration of operations, injecting capital, technology, and performance accountability into a system that had long been constrained by inefficiencies.

“We are not just operating a port; we are connecting Tanzania to the world,” explained Elitunu Mallamia, Head of External Relations at DP World Tanzania, during a recent media tour of the facility.

Running parallel to privatization is the Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DMGP), a multi-phase modernization initiative that has fundamentally reshaped the port’s physical and operational capacity.

Berth depths have been increased to accommodate larger vessels, cargo handling areas expanded, and yard layouts redesigned to optimize flow. These infrastructure upgrades, alongside quay wall strengthening and terminal rehabilitation, are enabling higher volumes and faster vessel turnaround.

Crucially, DMGP has also driven a shift toward a technology-enabled port ecosystem. Digital systems, from automated gate operations to real-time cargo tracking, have replaced manual processes that previously slowed clearance and created bottlenecks, significantly improving cargo visibility, predictability, and speed.

Within this framework, CT2 serves as the operational showcase of what privatization and modernization can achieve when aligned. Investments in advanced cargo-handling equipment, including rubber-tyred gantry cranes and modern terminal fleets, have dramatically improved yard efficiency and vessel productivity, while digital tools such as remote tallying have tightened operational control.

The impact of these reforms is now clearly reflected in key performance indicators. Cargo dwell time has decreased by approximately 42 percent after 2024 and 2025, following privatization, with an immediate drop to around 2.8 days and continued month-on-month improvements. Ship turnaround time has been compressed to an average of three days, marking a significant gain in berth productivity.

However, some pressure points remain. Ship waiting time at anchorage, an indicator of congestion before berthing, remains at a median of 5.7 days in the 2025–2026 period, suggesting that while in-port efficiency has improved markedly, demand continues to test available capacity during peak periods.

The broader economic ripple effects are equally significant. Improved port performance is stimulating growth in transport, warehousing, and freight forwarding, while strengthening Tanzania’s role as a transit corridor for landlocked markets across East and Central Africa.