Trade Hub Grant Mobilizes US$10 million in Support to Dar Corridor Committee
21 May 2012
The Dar es Salaam Corridor connects the Zambian Copperbelt to the Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. It also carries significant cargo to and from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi and southern Tanzania. It forms part of the North-South Corridor which stretches from Cape Town to Tanzania and is a major artery in terms of the United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Feed the Future initiative.
Transport costs on both rail and road along the corridor remain high due to factors such as the poor quality of transport infrastructure, ineffectiveness of customs authorities and management of agencies at border crossings, delays at the port and unnecessary road blocks and checks along the route.
The Dar es Salaam Corridor Committee (DCC) assists stakeholders along the corridor to identify transport impediments and implement measures to address them. It plays a pivotal role advocating for and enabling change to facilitate cheaper transportation for Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and the DRC.
For the last two years, the DCC has been negotiating with the World Bank to support activities to improve performance along the corridor and build the capacity of the DCC as part of the Southern Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project in Tanzania.
With funding from a SATH grant award in 2011, the DCC undertook pre-assessments for three project areas: bilateral agreements and road transport facilitation, rationalization of rail freight movement, and port-city interface. The assessments detailed specific project interventions, potential benefits and human/financial resources required to implement each project area.
In 2012, the World Bank accepted the assessments and project proposals, and agreed to provide US$5 million for capacity building at the DCC Secretariat as well as a further US$5 million for DCC program implementation for the next three to five years.
Implementation of activities with these funds will enable sustainability of the DCC and improve the quality of logistics and support services along the corridor thereby reducing the costs of trade.
Transport costs on both rail and road along the corridor remain high due to factors such as the poor quality of transport infrastructure, ineffectiveness of customs authorities and management of agencies at border crossings, delays at the port and unnecessary road blocks and checks along the route.
The Dar es Salaam Corridor Committee (DCC) assists stakeholders along the corridor to identify transport impediments and implement measures to address them. It plays a pivotal role advocating for and enabling change to facilitate cheaper transportation for Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and the DRC.
For the last two years, the DCC has been negotiating with the World Bank to support activities to improve performance along the corridor and build the capacity of the DCC as part of the Southern Africa Trade and Transport Facilitation Project in Tanzania.
With funding from a SATH grant award in 2011, the DCC undertook pre-assessments for three project areas: bilateral agreements and road transport facilitation, rationalization of rail freight movement, and port-city interface. The assessments detailed specific project interventions, potential benefits and human/financial resources required to implement each project area.
In 2012, the World Bank accepted the assessments and project proposals, and agreed to provide US$5 million for capacity building at the DCC Secretariat as well as a further US$5 million for DCC program implementation for the next three to five years.
Implementation of activities with these funds will enable sustainability of the DCC and improve the quality of logistics and support services along the corridor thereby reducing the costs of trade.
Activities