TPA raises Rwanda market share on enhanced strategy
Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Ports Authority’s market share in neighboring Rwanda has achieved a 90 percent annual increase, with Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports handling by at least 1.3 million metric tonnes this year compared to only 922,135 metric tonnes in the 2017/18 financial year.
The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) Director General, Mr Eric Hamissi, said this yesterday during a courtesy visit to the authority by Major General Charles Karamba, Rwanda’s Ambassador to Tanzania.
According to Mr Hamissi, the increased cargo volume is attributed by TPA’s market strategy for which much of the landlocked country’s import and export cargo go through Dar es Salaam and Tanga ports and thus plays a significant role in Kigali’s economy.
“In addition to our market strategy, we also thank Rwanda’s business communities for not only promoting our ports but also for making Dar es Salaam and Tanga as their preferred ports for their imports and export,” he noted.
According to him, TPA has massively devoted itself in, re-establishing and maintaining trade relationships between the authority and Rwanda’s business community so as not only to serve them better, but also to render its services efficiently.
He, therefore, promised the diplomat saying: “TPA will continue working on solving various challenges that the businesses might encounter and create a better environment in which better services will be provided, thus guaranteeing a smooth operation especially during cargo handling services.
For his part, the Rwanda diplomat commended the authority and added that: “As the diplomatic mission, we obviously need to be link with TPA leadership though its Director-General, this will help us in solving various challenges that our businesses might be facing.”
According to him, Rwanda’s cargo volumes through the said two ports have been increasing annually which is attributed to the finest services that we get as well as ongoing infrastructure improvement in the said ports.
He added: “Our economy is growing, we export more so as we import, and this is why there is such an increase in volume when it comes to Rwanda’s imports and exports in the ports of Dar es Salaam and Tanga.
According to him, the cargos are related to food stuff, electronic appliances and machinery, construction, agriculture, and the automobile.
Media reports indicate that with TPA’s innovation, Rwandan importers and exporters will no longer have to travel to Tanzania to clear their shipments.
This is due to the fact that TPA has opened a liaison office which is expected to operate as a one stop centre for traders to pay and clear their goods from Kigali without having to travel to Dar es Salaam.
This means that Rwandese traders will have the opportunity to clear their cargo just within their motherland, thus helping in cutting the cost of doing business and reducing the hurdles within the logistics and supply chain.
It is said that all are done in the name of ensuring TPA improves the business environment for its clients in neighboring Rwanda.
By The Citizen Reporter
