Source: ET Infra
East Africa Gateway Ltd, an associate company of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd (APSEZ) incorporated in the United Arab Emirates, has agreed to buy Tanzania International Container Terminal Services Ltd (TICTS), which runs a container terminal at Tanzania’s main port of Dar es Salaam and the deal is being scrutinised, the East African nation’s Fair Competition Commission (FCC) has said.
Tanzania’s antitrust regulator said in a public notice on 6 February that it had received a notification from East Africa Gateway Ltd to acquire the entire equity of Tanzania International Container Terminal Services, whose founding directors include local businessmen Nazir Karamagi and Yogesh Manek. Karamagi is also a politician who was a former minister in the Tanzanian government.
The FCC said in the public notice it has begun the “review and investigation of the intended acquisition with a view to examining whether it is likely to harm competition”.
The deal, when announced, would be the third port acquisition globally by APSEZ in recent years after Haifa Port in Israel and an under-construction container terminal in Colombo Port.
Since January 2023, APSEZ was hired by Tanzania Ports Authority to run four container handling berths (8 to 11) at Dar es Salaam Port as a service provider, after its five-year contract with Tanzania International Container Terminal Services (TICTS), a unit of Hong Kong’s Hutchison Port Holdings Ltd, ended.
Hutchison Port, owned Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka- shing, operated the container terminal at the Dar es Salaam port for 22 years until the Tanzanian government decided not to renew its contract last year.
Dar es Salaam Port has a rated capacity of 14.1 million tonnes (mt) dry cargo and 6 million tonnes of bulk liquid cargo. The port has a total quay (berth) length of about 2,600 metres with eleven deep-water berths.
Dar es Salaam Port is the main gateway to Tanzania’s hinterland and the Great Lakes region. It also plays a major role in supporting the economies of the neighbouring landlocked countries of Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Rwanda, Malawi, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
Besides, the port is strategically located to serve as a freight link to and from East and Central Africa countries as well as to Middle and Far East, Europe, Australia, and America.
