Transport - Tanzania · The money will be spent on the construction of roads, a new station for container serv- ... Mafia and Songwe. In October 2009, TAA announced the arrival of

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UNESCO NATIONAL COMMISSION OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

IntroductionThere has been a sus-

tained effort on the part ofGovernment of Tanzania tocreate essential transportinfrastructure and servicesto improve access to jobs,education and health facil-ities and also to facilitatedomestic and internationaltrade as well as strengthenregional integration andattract foreign investment.This socio-economic develop-mental scenario underscoresthe fact that transportationis pivotal to the overall devel-opment of Tanzania. Indeed,it is a key infrastructure sectorthat acts as a stimulus tosocio-economic growth andalso accounts for a large pro-portion of public investment.

It is important to empha-size that to be economically

and financially sustainabletransportation must be cost-effective and continuouslyresponsive to changing de-mands through the creationof a more competitive trans-port sector. Therefore, theavailability of proper trans-port infrastructure and effi-cient transport services arecrucial determinants forsocio-economic developmentand industrial development.

In the past five years, thetransport sector in Tanzaniahas helped to integrate market-strengthening competition,increase access to farmingtechniques, promote trade,tourism, and foreign invest-ment, and has contributed tothe government revenue. Thiswas made possible throughthe implementation of anumber of transport devel-

opment and maintenanceprogrammes and reformsaimed at enhancing theprovision of an efficient, cost-effective and safe transportsystem in the country.

Allocation of funds to thetransport sector has increasedconsistently over the pastdecade from around 170billion in 2001/2002 to over1,100 billion in 2010/2011.

Despite the progress made,transport in Tanzania is char-acterized by the following:• Inadequate transport net-work length leading to inade-quate accessibility to econom-ically potential areas;• High transport costs;• Long travel times;• Poor urban mobility espe-cially in large cities like Dar esSalaam, Mwanza and Arusha.

Transport:Highway to development

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Performance of the sectorTransport services grew

by 6.0% in 2009 comparedto 6.9% the previous year.This was as a direct result oflack of transportation means(such as planes and railwaycarriages) for passengersand cargo. This particularlyaffected the state-run AirTanzania Corporation (ATC)and Tanzania Railways Cor-poration (TRC). However, thesubsector’s contribution toGDP grew from 4.2% in 2008to 5.2% in 2009.

ManagementThe Ministry of Infra-

structure Development fore-sees the development of thetransport sector in the coun-try. It facilitates provisionof an economic, safe andreliable transport industrythat meets the needs of thepublic through developmentand implementation of appro-priate sector policies, strate-gies and standards.

Institutional SectorReforms

The Government hasmade a notable progress inthe transport sector. In orderto support economic growth,several reforms have beenrealized. Among the reformsis the transforming into semiautonomous agencies whosefunctions are of operationalor service delivery nature.Operational Agencies areTanzania National RoadsAgency (TANROADS), Tanza-nia Airports Authority (TAA),Tanzania MeteorologicalAgency (TMA), TanzaniaGovernment Flight Agency(TGFA), and Tanzania Electri-cal, Mechanical and ElectronicServices Agency (TEMESA).Reforms have also resultedinto the establishment oftransport regulatory author-ities that include Surface and

Marine Transport RegulatoryAuthority (SUMATRA) andthe Tanzania Civil AviationAuthority (TCAA).

The reforms include in-creasing Private Sector Partic-ipation in the Transport Sec-tor through managementcontracts and/or outright saleof parastatals. Furthermore astrategy for the operations ofTAZARA as well as the otherrevenue units of TanzaniaPorts Authority (TPA) andthose of the Marine ServicesCompany (MSC) is being final-ized. The establishment ofRoads Fund Board has shownpositive impacts as road main-tenance has been improved.

Transport SectorInvestment Programme(TSIP)

Tanzania has put in placea Transport Sector InvestmentProgramme (TSIP) for devel-oping the transport sector inan effective manner. The mainobjective of the programmeis to ensure the developmentin a way that enables the sec-tor to contribute effectively

to the growth of the nationaleconomy by helping othersectors to attain their aspi-rations and to eventuallyachieve the eradication ofpoverty. TSIP is being imple-mented in two five-yearphases. The first phase com-menced in 2007/08 and isscheduled to end in 2011/12while the second phase is dueto take off in 2012/13 andend in 2016/17. Over 60% ofthe financial requirementsfor the TSIP is earmarked forroads development.

In 2010/2011 FinancialYear, The Ministry of Infra-structure Development willreceive TZS 1.1 trillion to imple-ment a number of projects.The money will be spent onthe construction of roads, anew station for container serv-ices, a special yard for motorvehicles at Dar es Salaam Port,the construction of a cargocentre (CFS) at Kisarawe, theexpansion of Mtwara Port,the rehabilitation of KigomaPort and development ofMwanza harbour and therehabilitation of railways.


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RoadThe geography of Tan-

zania, its size, diversity anddispersion give roads a spe-cial position in integrationof the national economy. Inparticular roads serve ruralareas (where the majority ofthe people live) more effec-tively than any other modeof transport. Road transportis the dominant mode inTanzania and carries over80% passengers and over75% of freight traffic.

The total classified roadnetwork is estimated to be86,472 km of which about7% is paved. The Ministry ofInfrastructure Developmentthrough the Tanzania NationalRoads Agency (TANROADS)is managing the National

road network of about 29,847km comprising 10,601 kmof trunk and 19,246 km ofregional roads. The remainingnetwork of about 56,625 kmof urban, district and feederroads is under the responsi-bility of the Prime Minister’sOffice Regional Administra-tion and Local Government(PMO-RALG).

In the past five years,the conditions of trunk andregional roads have steadilyimproved, helping to reduceinfrastructure problems thatpeople in many parts of thecountry were facing. The over-all road condition assessmentat the end of December 2009indicated that 73% were good,23% were fair and 4% werepoor compared to 25% good,40% fair and 35% poor inDecember 2001.

Between June 2000 andJune 2009 a total of 912 kmof trunk and regional Roadswere upgraded/rehabilitatedto bitumen standard.

The road constructionbudget is increased everyyear through the Road Fund.

In 2009/10 financial year,Tanzania Road Fund col-lected about TZS 284 billioncompared to TZS 73 billionin 2005/2006.

Despite the efforts, the roadnational network remainsinadequate, as it is faced withlack of sufficient funds forrehabilitation, upgrading and

for routine maintenance, com-bined with increased traffic.

RailThe railways system boasts

a total track length of 3,676km, which are operated bytwo railway systems: theTanzania Railway Limited(TRL)-2,706km and Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority(TAZARA)-970 km.

The two systems inter-face at Kidatu and at Dar esSalaam port. Together, therailways serve 14 of the 21regions of Mainland Tanzania.They also serve neighbouringcountries of Zambia, DRC,Burundi, Rwanda, Ugandaand Malawi.

The Railway system isin very poor condition, par-ticularly the TRL network.It has faced several impor-tant infrastructural problems,as well as stiff competitionfrom road transport. This hasled to a deterioration of itsnetwork assets and its capa-bility to provide a reliableand constant service.

Consequently, tonnagefreight volume and passengernumber have declined in2009. Tanzania RailwaysLimited (TRL) carried a totalof 237,000 tonnes of cargocompared to 429,000 tonnesin 2008, representing a declineof 44.8 %. A total of 285,000passengers were transportedcompared to 392,000 in 2008.Decrease in the number ofpassenger and cargo trans-portation was caused by insuf-ficient number of cabins, poorinfrastructure and poor per-formance caused by workers’occasional strikes. The floodsthat occurred in Kilosa,Morogoro region in January2010 destroyed the centralrailway system, halting trainservices between Dar esSalaam and Dodoma.


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The same year, TAZARAcarried 333,000 tonnes ofcargo compared to 525,000tonnes in 2008, representinga decline of 36.6%. Passengersthat used TAZARA in 2009were 923,000, compared to1.2 million in 2008, equals to21.6% decrease due to insuf-ficient funds available to runthe company profitably.

At the beginning of 2010,government decided to ter-minate its contract with RITESof India on the running of TRL.After restoring the servicesparticularly to places whichwere abandoned by the out-going Indian investor, the gov-ernment will decide whetherto find another investor or con-tinue the venture on its own.

AirThere are 125 airports in

Tanzania including airstripsserving domestic and inter-national traffic. 62 out of thattotal of airports are ownedand managed by the govern-ment. Tanzania has four inter-national airports located inDar es Salaam (JNIA), Zanzibar(ZIA), Kilimanjaro (KIA), andMwanza (MWZ).

Generally, the conditionsof basic airport infrastructures,such as runways, aprons and

taxiways remain poor for mostof the airports in Tanzania.During the last five years,however, the governmentthrough the Tanzania AirportsAuthority (TAA) and TanzaniaCivil Aviation Authority(TCAA), has implemented anumber of development proj-ects which are designed tofurther modernize the airports.

Airport infrastructure andservices are currently beingupgraded to internationalstandards, in particular JNIA,KIA and ZIA. Domestic airportsearmarked for infrastructureimprovements include Tabora,

Bukoba, Dodoma, Kigoma,Mafia and Songwe. In October2009, TAA announced thearrival of self-service check-in, baggage reconciliation,sophisticated flight infor-mation displays and other

major improvements to serv-ices for the passengers whouse the country’s three majorairports.

During the year underreview aviation industryproviders increased to 63,compared to 46 in 2008.The total number of inter-national passengers wentdown to 988,637 comparedto 1,089,346 in 2008. Such asituation was caused by AirTanzania Corporation Lim-ited (ATCL) decision to haltits services outside the coun-try, and reduce number ofdomestic flights. Other rea-sons included world economiccrisis and fewer tourists whovisited the country.

Marine transportBoth sea and inland water-

ways ports in Tanzania aremanaged and operated bythe Tanzania Ports Authority(TPA).

The TPA’s main IndianOcean ports are Dar es Salaam,Mtwara, and Tanga; minorseaports serving coastal trafficinclude Lindi, Kilwa Masoko,Mafia Island, Bagamoyo,

Pangani and Kwale. The Portof Zanzibar is administeredseparately by the ZanzibarPort Corporation.

The port of Dar es Salaamis one of the key entry points


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into the East Coast of Africawith an annual throughputof 7 million tons handlingabout 93% of Tanzania’s porttraffic. It is also an importantoutlet for neighbouring land-locked countries. It has arated capacity of 4.1 million(dwt) dry cargo and 6.0 million(dwt) bulk liquid cargo.

Cargo volumes handledat the port have expandedby 15% per year since 2004,leading to congestion. Despitethat, Tanzania has tremen-dously improved its capacityto efficiently move goods andhandle other trade logisticsover the last two years. During2009, port operations in Dares Salaam improved sig-nificantly. Dwell time hasdropped from an averageof 20 days in January 2009to between 11 and 13 daysfor transit and domesticgoods respectively. A shipnow waits for only 3.8 daysat the outer anchorage com-pared to an average of 12.7

days in January 2009. Theturnround time has improvedto 6.7 days from 18.9 daysin January 2009. The specialoperation on decongestingthe port also saw 37,765 con-tainers being transferred toInland Container Depots(ICDs) without additionalcosts between January andDecember 2009, creating extra

space at the port’s containerterminal. This is in contrastto 10,504 containers that wereat the container terminalin 2009. Customs clearanceprocedures have also eased,due to extended working hoursat the custom’s department,among other improvements.

Dar es Salaam port’s con-tainer terminal which wasleased to Tanzania Interna-tional Container TerminalServices (TICTS) for 10 yearsin 2000, a contract that waslater extended for another15 years in September 2005has increased the number ofcontainers being handledfrom 100,000 to over 320,000at present. TPA recentlyannounced an investmentof US $60 million from theprivate sector investors Hut-chicon Ports Holdings, WaiChau and TICTS, to facilitateits port operations in easingcongestion at its ports. TPAalso announced that the Dares Salaam port would build

a second container terminalin an expansion programmevalued at USD400-630m ina project due to be completedby 2013/2014.

Lake TransportThe major inland water-

ways ports are Mwanza,Kemondo Bay, Bukoba andMusoma on Lake Victoria;

Itungi on Lake Nyasa; andKigoma on Lake Tanganyika.

Those lake ports are usedto transport cargo and pas-sengers inland as well asbetween neighbouring coun-tries. They are presently 16operating vessels on the lakes.

PipelineThe pipeline system con-

sists of 1,750 km used totransport crude oil productsfrom Dar es Salaam to Ndolarefinery in Zambia, and 232km used to transport naturalgas from Songo Songo to Dares Salaam.

ConclusionThe government in Tanza-

nia realizes that an improvedtransport sector is critical toopening up the developmentof its economy, strengtheningcompetition, increasing accessto farming implements andproducts, promoting trade,tourism, and foreign invest-ment apart from contributingimmensely to the govern-ment revenues. With this inmind, efforts are being madeto ensure sufficient budgetallocations especially to theroads sector, which is essentialfor opening up remote ruralareas which are Tanzania’sbread baskets.

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Transport - Tanzania · The money will be spent on the construction of roads, a new station for container serv- ... Mafia and Songwe. In October 2009, TAA announced the arrival of