The Dar-es-Salaam Corridor Group (DCG) and the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) have entered into a partnership agreement to develop a dry port at the terminal end of TAZARA in Kapiri Mposhi.

In a statement, TAZARA head of public relations Conrad Simuchile stated that the DCG will be expected to begin constructing the dry port on a Build-Lease-Transfer (BLT) Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) model.

Simuchile stated that DCG will further be required to take hold of the four hectare piece of land, construct the dry port, operate (lease) it for 25 years and, thereafter, transfer all the immovable assets to TAZARA.

And according to TAZARA managing director Engineer Bruno Ching’andu, the authority will earn regular revenue from the lease as well as from the port’s daily operations.

“We are glad that the Attorneys General for both countries signed off this Agreement, but it was worth the wait because it’s a significant development, being one of the first PPP models to be introduced under our strategic vision of engaging the private sector in the full utilisation of TAZARA’s huge idle capacity. Above all, this is one sure way of guaranteeing ourselves of additional freight traffic that will naturally accrue from the business generated by the Dry Port’s operations,” Simuchile quoted Eng. Ching’andu as saying.

And DCG chief executive officer Jesper Sorensen stated the dry port operator is intended to promote railways as the main mode of transportation in the logistics chain.

“We know that TAZARA represents a strong bond between Tanzania and Zambia and are confident that this Agreement signifies a new era in the development of logistics between the two countries,” stated Sorensen.