COMPETE provides support and technical assistance to the Tanzania Ports Authority in Dar es Salaam. In December, COMPETE initiated procurement to equip the Port’s new One Stop Center (OSC). The OSC builds on trainings that COMPETE facilitated earlier in the year, which included a study tour for Tanzania Ports Authority to witness and learn from operations at the Mombasa Port. The OSC is a result of documented international best practices in transit and logistics management. The OSC should be fully operational in early 2012.
Dar es Salaam Port is a multipurpose port handling a range of cargo such as cereals, chemicals, electronics, motor vehicles and petroleum. Its main exports include tea, coffee and soda ash in both containerized and loose modes. The OSC will gather all cargo and clearing agents for the port in one central location, ‘under one roof,’ to offer a seamless cargo clearance services platform to port users. Traders and their agents will now be able to lodge and process their cargo declarations and documentation through one systematized central point. The OSC is an important step towards enhancing port efficiency, productivity, and transparency. It is geared towards reducing costs, minimizing delays and streamlining operations and procedures.
Dar es Salaam Port is a strategic entry and exit port and an important facility servicing the land locked countries of Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and Uganda through the Central Corridor, and Malawi and Zambia through the Dar es Salaam corridor. Both corridors run along highly productive farm land. A smooth running port, with the help of OSC, ensures that farmers get their inputs faster and cheaper. OSC will improve an infrastructure that will lead to improved production and the growth of trade, both regionally and for export.
