New sea port in East Africa

Demand for port capacity in East Africa is rising rapidly, and possibilities for expansion in the existing ports are limited. Studies indicate that, by 2016, a new port north of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) should be operational, serving, as a regional hub, the needs of the total (captive and non-captive) hinterland of East African ports. The objective of this article is to assess the economic potential, in terms of logistics costs of alternative hub-port locations. To that effect we first describe the flow of goods in the Nairobi – Durban port range and the landlocked countries; the available inland transport options; and the related transport costs and quality of service aspects.