The envisaged port of Bagamoyo will have no competitor along the eastern Africa Indian Ocean because it will handle fourth generation ships, the government has said. Yesterday Industry and Trade Permanent Secretary Uledi Musa dismissed fears of the new port facing stiff competition from other ports in the region as unfounded.
He said in Dar es Salaam that the US$10 billion harbour will not be competing with the ports of Djibouti, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Beira and Durban because it will handle only mega ships.
“Kenyans had that fear that Bagamoyo port will compete with Mombasa and locally people had fears that Dar es Salaam port will compete with Bagamoyo but I told them it’s not true,” Musa told participants to an Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) and TIB Investment Bank meeting.
According to him, Bagamoyo port is naturally a deep bay with capacity to handle huge ships without much engineering required as the existing ports whose natural sites are not as good. 
“In Mchuchuma and Liganga we have huge iron ore and coal projects that will produce one million metric tonnes each and will operate for the next 400 years,” Musa pointed out saying Bagamoyo will accommodate such developments which the Dar es Salaam port cannot handle. The port will also serve the envisaged Bagamoyo special economic zone.
He said as the country shifts its development paradigm towards industrialization, export processing zones (EPZs) and special economic zones (SEZs) are crucial as they both serve local and foreign markets. EPZA Director General Joseph Simbakalia said Bagamoyo’s natural position as a good harbour made it a human trade hub during the Arab colonial days. 
“Although this trade was bad but it signifies Bagamoyo’s suitability in trade,” Mr Simbakalia noted. He said within the next 10 to 15 years, Bagamoyo will become a beehive of construction activity as the Chinese-funded port project gets underway.
“The Bagamoyo SEZ will be for industries while Kurasini Logistics Centre will be for trading,” the retired army officer pointed out as he urged Chinese and Omanese investors to team up with their local peers in joining the mega project.
In Bagamoyo, the SEZ has an area of over 9,000 hectares, which will include 800ha of Bagamoyo port at Mbegani, 5,000ha EPZ area, 300ha hi-tech park to be jointly developed with the Commission for Science and Technology.
“The government of Tanzania is developing a mega industrial cum commercial zone known as Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone on an area of 9,000 hectares located in Bagamoyo, Pwani Region, 50kms north of Dar es Salaam city,” the EPZA said in its recent report while inviting potential investors to participate in the project.
The EPZA and Tanzania Ports Authority are already partnering with China Merchant Holding International and Oman’s State Government Reserve Fund to develop a 1,700ha industrial park. While Bagamoyo SEZ will mainly constitute industries and hi-tech businesses, Kurasini Logistics Centre will mainly be for trading. The project will be developed in two phases beginning with a trade centre for high quality goods targeting east and central African markets.
“On the second phase, light industries for processing agro-based raw materials from Tanzania will be constructed for value addition prior to exporting. The project will be located on a 61.87 ha and will have showrooms, warehouses, inland container depot, apartments, training centre and simple assembly plants,” the EPZA report said. 
TIB Development Bank Deputy Managing Director, Jaffer Machano, and EPZA Director of Promotion and Facilitation, Zawadia Nanyaro, backed the two projects which need US$1.5 billion in investment. 
“We have a bright future as a country…all that is needed are concerted efforts to make Tanzania the investor   destination   of   choice   through   construction   of   the   basic  infrastructure,” Ms Nanyaro said.
She said there has been positive response by Tanzanians to invest in EPZ and SEZ schemes, noting that out of the 140 registered projects, locals own 45 per cent while India has 21 per cent, China nine per cent and other nationalities 25 per cent.
Source: IPP Media

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