The idea of development corridors in African countries’ economic planning is not new; it’s just that the chance for their realization has been dim—until now. The African nation of Tanzania is in the process of realizing the continent’s most aggressive infrastructure-development plan, based on a four-corridor (actually five, but one is inside the other) approach. With each corridor anchored by a port—the nation has three—the expressed intent is to spread the increasing density of economic activity throughout the country and beyond, to the interior, landlocked regions of the continent.
Speaking at the combined IMF/World Bank forum in Washington, D.C. in April, Tanzanian Finance Minister Khamis Mussa Omar had at least one bankster squirming in his seat when he declared, “The new direction is to transform these [transportation] corridors into economic corridors,” adding that the goal is to stimulate industrial activity, expand trade and develop service ecosystems along the transportation routes. In June, that “squirm” turned into a run for the door, as State Minister in the President’s Office for Planning and Investment Kitila Mkumbo unveiled an 86.3-trillion-shilling (US $32 billion) program—18% of its five-year National Development Plan—for the transformation project.
The central, and by far the largest, port in Tanzania is Dar es Salaam, in the north/center of the national coastline on the Indian Ocean. To its north lies Tanga, with Mtwara in the far south. It is at Tanga Port where the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), now expected to be operational in early 2027, will terminate, handling all the Ugandan oil currently slated for export. Partly with that in mind, the Tanga port began a rapid upgrade 10 years ago, including the addition of a second deep-water berth and supporting infrastructure capable of handling bulk liquid cargo. There are plans to build a standard-gauge rail (SGR) line skirting the Kenya-Tanzania border northwest from Tanga to Musoma, a port city on Lake Victoria, although the dates are uncertain.
