argo bound for Rwanda through the Port of Dar es Salaam rose 24% to 2.18 million tonnes in the 2025/26 financial year, as faster port operations and new inland links make the Central Corridor more attractive to traders.
Total transit cargo through the port grew 17% to 14.61 million tonnes. The DR Congo remained the largest transit market, rising 30% to 7.77 million tonnes, while Zambia accounted for 3.41 million tonnes.
Total cargo handled at the port reached 33.71 million tonnes, up 21.5%.
The gains follow a sharp improvement in port efficiency. Average container vessel time at berth fell from about 10 days in 2020/21 to about 3 days in 2024/25. At Terminal 1, operated by DP World under a 30-year concession, discharge times have dropped from more than 300 hours to under 28 hours since April 2024.
DP World reported $123 million invested in the port by April 2026, and eight new diesel-electric rubber-tyred gantry cranes were commissioned in June. Monthly container volumes rose from 44,001 in May to 48,793 in August, compared with 8,000 to 13,000 a month before 2024.
Inland, commercial freight on the Standard Gauge Railway between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma began in July 2025, the Kwala dry port is being developed to handle about 300,000 containers a year, and the approach at Tunduma on the Tanzania and Zambia border is being widened from one lane to four.
Despite these gains, Zambian cargo through the port fell over the same period, a reminder that rail reliability, border clearance and predictable delivery times will decide whether port efficiency reaches customers inland.
