Kigali, 09 March 2018: Minister for Works, Transport and Communication in Tanzania, Prof. Makame M. Mbarawa and Minister of State in charge of Transport, Eng. Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye officiated the opening of the Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) office in Kigali, in a bid to improve business flow between both countries. The ceremony took place in Kigali and saw the attendance of high level officials from the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Rwanda.

In his address, Minister Jean de Dieu Uwihanganye noted that the TPA office in Kigali is a fruit of the visionary leadership of His Excellency Paul Kagame for championing this noble development and identifying international cooperation as one of the economic pillars of the Nation.

He added that “the TPA local office will improve business environment to our community as well as neighboring countries as services shall be brought near to customers in order to cut down costs of doing business and reduce hurdles within the logistic and supply chain”.

Minister Uwihanganye said that in the last two years, 80% of Rwanda’s external trade has utilized central corridor anchored by the port of Dar es Salaam, which has registered 8 days of dwell time, adding that “we believe that the opening of this office can contribute in reducing the dwell time by 50% and consequently reduce the overall travel time and cost of cargo”.

Minister for Works, Transport and Communication of Tanzania highlighted that the existing cordial business relationship between Tanzania and Rwanda in particular with TPA and Dar es Salaam Port, is because Rwanda is the third big user of the Dar es Salaam Port among the neighboring transit countries that use the port.

Prof. Makame M. Mbarawa also said that TPA will reinforce trade between Rwanda and Tanzania and save time and resources business people were spending during clearance. “The business community will not be obliged to travel all the way to Dar es Salaam to clear their cargo and this will strengthen the better relations and cooperation between two countries,”Prof. Makame said. “It is our duty as facilitators of transport and logistics to put in place the necessary infrastructure and superstructure to be able to offer efficient transport services and enhance competitiveness,” he added.

Dar es Salaam is the largest port handling over 90% of all the country’s total seaborne trade.