The Dar es Salaam Port has achieved significant improvements in cargo and vessel handling across the 2024/2025 financial year and the first half of the 2025/2026 financial year, marking a period of substantial growth and operational enhancement. These advancements are primarily attributed to strategic Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) that have fundamentally transformed the port's operations and infrastructure, leading to heightened efficiency and superior service delivery.

In the 2024/2025 financial year, cargo throughput at the port increased to 27.7 million tonnes, representing a 17 percent rise compared to the 23.69 million tonnes handled in 2023/2024. The positive trend continued into the subsequent financial year, with the port processing a total of 16.7 million tonnes of cargo during the six-month period from July to December 2025. This indicates a 30 percent increase over the 12.8 million tonnes handled during the same period in 2024.

As of June 2025, DP World Dar es Salaam Limited (DP World) had invested approximately 214.2 billion Tanzanian Shillings (bn/-), while Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited (TEAGTL) had also made investments to deliver higher-quality services with improved efficiency. These significant capital injections have led to a dramatic reduction in vessel turnaround time at the port, from an average of 30 days to an average of six days for container vessels, a figure that includes anchorage waiting time.

The investments have also enabled the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) to substantially reduce its operational costs at the Port of Dar es Salaam by an average of 57 percent. Consequently, TPA's profit margin has seen a healthy improvement, rising from an average of 66 percent to 78.6 percent. Furthermore, the enhanced operational efficiency at the port has contributed directly to an increase in government revenue, particularly customs revenue, which reached 12.33 trillion Tanzanian Shillings (tri/-) in the 2024/2025 financial year, an increase of 17 percent compared to the 10.55 tri/- collected in 2023/2024.

Beyond financial and operational gains, these investments have also stimulated employment opportunities. By June 2025, a total of 764 individuals had secured direct employment with DP World and TEAGTL in various capacities, including departmental officers, operations clerks, heavy and light machinery operators, and security personnel.

The investments made by DP World focused on several key areas aimed at modernizing the port and boosting its productivity. These included the procurement of new equipment, significant rehabilitation of existing TPA equipment, development of cutting-edge ICT systems, upgrading of equipment workshops, and the expansion of cargo storage areas to enhance the port's overall handling capacity.

Similarly, TEAGTL's investments encompassed the rehabilitation of infrastructure and container storage yards, the upgrading of berths 8 to 11, the extension of the quay by 100 meters, the procurement of new equipment, and the development of additional container storage areas. These collective efforts have significantly bolstered the port's physical and technological capabilities.

In parallel with these PPP initiatives, the government, through the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC), has signed a contract for the construction of vital railway infrastructure within the Port of Dar es Salaam. This ambitious project involves the development of railway lines and related infrastructure for the Metre Gauge Railway (MGR), Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), and the Tanzania, Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA). Upon completion, this project is projected to increase the port's container handling capacity to 480,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) per year and elevate the share of cargo transported by rail from the current 2 percent to 12 percent.

The ongoing improvements at the Dar es Salaam Port are designed to enable it to accommodate larger vessels requiring deeper drafts than currently possible, including Post-Panamax ships with a length overall of up to 305 meters and a container capacity of up to 8,000 TEUs. This represents a substantial increase from the current capacity of second-generation vessels, which can carry only 2,000 to 2,500 TEUs. Furthermore, the port's overall cargo handling capacity is expected to increase from an average of 16 million tonnes prior to the commencement of improvements in 2017 to a formidable 30 million tonnes, further contributing to government revenue.

The Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) is also implementing several other strategic port improvement projects. These include the construction of oil berths and storage tanks, the Malindi Wharf rehabilitation project, further upgrading of berths 8 to 11, construction of new berths 12 to 15, and the aforementioned railway construction project within the port. These comprehensive efforts underscore a commitment to positioning Dar es Salaam Port as a leading maritime gateway in the region.