Private equity firm Brookwoods Capital has expressed interest in investing Tsh53 trillion ($27 billion) in the construction the Mwambani Port and Railway Corridor (Mwaporc) in Tanga, Tanzania, one of the largest development corridors in the region.

The project includes a deep sea port, a free port and a heavy-haul standard gauge railway that will link Tanzania with Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

A free port is an export processing zone (EPZ) in a port, where imported goods can be held or processed duty-free before being re-exported.

The East African Community Secretariat has supported the project, which will now be integrated into the region’s infrastructure master plan.

Mwaporc co-director Cuthbert Tenga said that they are in negotiations with the Ministry of Transport to sign the project agreement for works to start.

“We have received support from East and Central African countries and once the government of Tanzania signs the agreement, it will be used as a module by the other countries,” he said.

He said that the negotiations with the ministry started last year and they are hopeful that they will seal the deal soon.
The construction of the deep-sea port is expected to allow direct shipping from international ports, which is ultimately expected to cut the cost of logistics for exporters and importers.

According to Mr Tenga, the free port will be constructed adjacent to the new deep-sea port, and is expected to host manufacturing, logistics and other service industries.

Steel manufacturing

Key anchor activities will include an integrated iron and steel manufacturing cluster. He said that so far, only the government of Burundi has signed the memorandum of understanding with Mwaporc.

“The DRC and Uganda governments have, however, committed their support for the project,” he added.

The country’s National Social Security Fund and the National Housing Corporation have also shown interest in the project.

Mr Tenga said that they were also in talks with the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange to sell their shares to the public.

Source: The East African

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