Jump to navigation

Tanzania

Dubai faces legal hurdles with port plan

DP World's port plans on pause after Dar es Salaam withdraws legal changes that would have facilitated the deal

President Samia Suluhu Hassan appears to have backed down following a damaging row over a controversial agreement signed in February with the United Arab Emirates for logistics giant DP World to run the port of Dar es Salaam.

Although the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between Arusha and Dubai was approved by the National Assembly in June, that prompted a major backlash from opposition politicians and civil society who warned that the pact amounted to a cut-price sell-off of a key state asset. The IGA specified a contract of indefinite length and with little clarity on the financial terms. It also leaves the way clear for DP World's operations to expand to run other ports in mainland Tanzania. 

Last month, the High Court threw out an appeal by a group of activists including lawyer Boniface Mwabukusi and opposition politician, Mdude Nyagali, both of whom were arrested after criticising the agreement as unconstitutional (Dispatches 22/8/23, Samia's response to Emirati port deal critics prompts backlash).

Last week, Attorney General Eliezer Feleshi said that the government had withdrawn proposed modifications to two laws designed to 'enable Tanzania's ports to operate at international standards level and attract more countries, more ships, and larger cargoes', both important requirements set out in the IGA with Dubai. Putting these amendments on the back burner means the port contract cannot progress.

National Assembly speaker Tulia Ackson has since stated that there will be no further parliamentary debates on the DP World deal until the government presents any new agreements or provisions. 

Minister for Works, Makame Mbarawa, insisted last week that the commercial terms had not been worked out with DP World but that the agreement would expand Tanzania's trade links.



Related Articles

Crushing the enemies within

President Magufuli's clampdown on political opponents and the media will continue unabated, which won't help the economy

A tough twelve months lie ahead in Tanzania. The economy will continue to slow down. Under-pressure tax collectors will continue to squeeze domestic investors while foreign businesses understand...


Protection in the arms bazaar

A plea bargain deal in the UK and USA has set back investigations into arms trade crookery in South Africa and Tanzania

The US$450 million in fines that BAE Systems agreed to pay on 5 February to halt investigations into corrupt payments on arms deals adds to its financial woes....


Hopes and fears offshore

Estimates of the offshore deposits are now so vast that there is major concern that bribery will affect the next round of bidding

Tanzania is raising its estimates of gas reserves to around 30 trillion cubic feet, and with them, worries about whether the anticipated flood of cash can be managed...


Kolimba and critics

A hero's funeral was accorded to Horace Kolimba. Yet when he died on 13 March, he was central to a fierce row in the traditionally united ruling Chama...