Construction of the $10 billion Bagamoyo port was suspended by the late President John Magufuli in 2019.
The new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan Tanzania, has resumed contact with her Chinese partners with a view to relaunching the project.
(Photo Oliver Kwembe – environs de Bagamoyo)
The construction of the port of Bagamoyo, 75 km north of Dar es Salaam, had finally been put on hold due to conditions deemed unfavourable for the Tanzanian side.
Disagreements over investment conditions had pitted the Tanzanian authorities against the Chinese port operator China Merchants Holdings International, which is in charge of building this mega project financed by China and the Sultanate of Oman.
A large geopolitical project
At the time, Tanzanian President John Magufuli accused the Chinese promoters of the project of presenting “abusive and tricky” conditions in exchange for funding. “They want us to give them a 33-year guarantee and a 99-year lease.
In addition, Magufuli had said that the $50 million paid to compensate displaced people for the new port project “did not reach the beneficiaries in Bagamoyo but was diverted to a few people in Dar es Salaam” (source Ecofin)
Started in 2015, this port project would be a key element of the famous “Silk Road” programmed by Xi Jinping. This vast geopolitical project aims to extend a little more the Chinese zone of influence in Europe via Africa.
