Already present in many countries in Africa, the Emirati giant DP World is preparing to operate the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. On Monday, a collective of lawyers seized the High Court of Justice to denounce the conditions of this contract. They fear that Tanzania will become hand and foot tied to the Emirates.
If the Tanzanian government insists on the informal nature of this agreement, for its detractors, it is indeed a binding commitment.
Because several clauses disturb. First there is that of exclusivity. According to this agreement, Tanzania will transfer the monopoly not only of the port of Dar es Salaam, but of all its ports to DP World, and will have to consult Dubai before using another provider. This is what this collective of lawyers asserts. He represents Tanzanian citizens, who are worried about the indefinite duration of this contract.
Another point of tension: the terms of termination of the contract. A clause prohibits the Tanzanian government from terminating it under any circumstances. This puts Tanzania at odds, says Bob Wangwe, one of the collective’s lawyers.
” We will be exploited. Unfortunately, we don’t know how long this will last, because the terms of the contract leave us no flexibility. The government says the current Dar es Salaam port operator is not efficient enough, pointing to excessive container unloading time. So the Tanzanian government wants to allocate our resources, our port, to DP World because of these problems that could have been solved otherwise. »
The Tanzanian government points to the significant revenue that this agreement would generate. Ten billion euros in revenue per year, compared to the current three billion. But its detractors want to freeze the contract with DP World until a decision is taken by the High Court of Justice. A first hearing is scheduled for July 20, 2023.
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