Burundi News

Tanzania on Sunday signed agreements with Dubai state-owned ports operator DP World to operate part of the Dar es Salaam port for 30 years, a deal that has previously been opposed by Tanzania opposition and rights groups.Plasduce Mbossa, director general of state-owned Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) which currently manages the port, said DP World will lease and operate four of the 12 berths at the country's largest port.Dar es Salaam also serves landlocked nations in east and southern Africa like Uganda…

A ship carrying wheat from Ukraine to the drought-stricken Horn of Africa docked on Tuesday, the United Nations said, the first to make the journey since the Russian invasion six months ago.The vessel Brave Commander is carrying 23,000 tonnes of grain and will soon be followed by another carrying 7,000 tonnes.The total shipment, which will be unloaded in Djibouti and transported to Ethiopia, is enough to feed 1.5 million people for a month.That barely begins to alleviate the problems of Eastern Africa, where the United Nations' World Food Programme says extreme weather, surging food prices and conflict mean 82 million people need food aid across nine countries - Burundi…

Dubai-based global port operator DP World and the Rwandan government have opened East Africa’s first Inland Dry Port, 20 kilometers from the capital city Kigali and close to the international airport.DP World Kigali logistics hub is a secure, bonded facility spread over 13 hectares and features an Inland Container Terminal (ICT) with modern warehousing capacity, a container yard, administrative and services buildings, parking areas and other facilities.According to a release from the world's port terminal operator, DP World Kigali accesses two secure trade gateways for eastern Africa, the port of Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

German shipping company Hapag-Lloyd is continuing to focus on the growing market in East Africa, where annual growth rates of approximately six percent lead the African continent.In April 2018 Hapag-Lloyd launched the East Africa Service (EAS), its first dedicated service to East Africa. The weekly service sails from Jeddah to Mombasa, and from there to Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, and directly back to Jeddah. The service will be expanded in September with a weekly connection to and from Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam.

Ocean carrier Hapag-Lloyd will commence a new weekly service between the Port of Jeddah and the east coast of Africa in April. With the East Africa Service (EAS), the liner shipping company will be calling at the ports of Mombasa (Kenya) and Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) for the first time. These will be connected to Hapag-Lloyd’s existing global network via the Saudi Arabian port of Jeddah, as the central hub of the region. Hapag-Lloyd will initially deploy four vessels, each with a capacity of 1,200 TEU, in the EAS. The fast-growing economies of countries in East Africa further inland from Kenya and Tanzania, which lack their own seaports, are also likely to benefit from this new offer, as it will give them improved access to the global market.

Kenya's main port, Mombasa, handled 10.6 percent more cargo in the first nine months of this year, helped by an expansion of its handling capacity and a new railway system, the port’s management said on Monday. Activity in east Africa's biggest port is considered a measure of economic activity for the region. Mombasa handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. The increased traffic comes despite prolonged tensions over an election in August which was nullified and then rerun in October. Mombasa handled 22.8 million tonnes of cargo between January and September compared with 20.6 million in the same period last year, Catherine Mturi, the port managing director, said.

Skills necessary in dealing with maritime transnational organised crimes at sea, including, piracy, armed robbery against ships, drug trafficking, marine terrorism and more were at the core of a two-week training course which concluded today in Mombasa, Kenya (22 May – 2 June 2017). The course was conducted under the auspices of the JeddahAmendment to Djibouti Code of Conduct 2017, as a joint initiative between the East African Standby Force (EASF), Nordic Advisory and Coordination Staff (NACS) and  International Maritime Organization (IMO). 15 participants from the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) signatory states attended the event, namely: Comoros, Kenya, Seychelles and Sudan as well as Burundi and Uganda from the East African Standby Force.

The Kipevu Oil Terminal at Mombasa Port will be relocated early next year, to Dongo Kundu area, as a result of the ongoing capacity expansion program, the Kenya Ports Authority announced. The new oil terminal is expected to have a capacity to accommodate four vessels of up to 200,000 DWT. The project also involves building new cargo handling facilities with both subsea and land based pipelines and four berths capable of loading/discharging crude oil, HFO, DPK-aviation, AGO-Diesel and PMS-Petrol. The other element is the topside, whose initial implementation will be for three berths but layout will recognize the need for implementation of the fourth berth at a later date.

A washed-out road in Kenya has blocked the flow of goods from Kenya's Indian Ocean port of Mombasa for a second straight day, officials said on Wednesday, choking the main trade route into East Africa. Mombasa handles imports such as fuel and other vital goods for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Queues began forming at about 10 a.m. local time (0700GMT) on Wednesday when heavy rains swept away a temporary road about 50km from Mombasa. The road was being used as a diversion while the main highway leading to the capital, Nairobi, was repaired. Police and truckers stuck on the road say the queues are now almost 50km long, with many trucks, busses and cars stranded far from towns and villages where they can purchase water and food.

Heavy rains near the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa have swept away a road and slowed transport to a trickle on the main trade route into east Africa, officials said on Wednesday. Mombasa port handles imports such as fuel and other vital goods for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Police officials reported tailbacks of more than 10 kilometres and said delays began at abound 10am local time when a temporary road about 50km from Mombasa was swept away. The road was being used as a diversion while the main highway leading to capital Nairobi was being repaired. "We have been stuck here for over six hours. We are not moving at all.

Kenyan police raided a ship docked in the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa on Friday, on suspicion that it carried drugs and firearms, officials said. East Africa has become a key export route for Afghan heroin destined for Europe. Regional maritime forces, short of funds and anti-trafficking expertise, have struggled to stem the flow of drugs through their territorial waters. Kenyan soldiers and security personnel cordoned off the entire port for hours before seizing the ship, paralysing East Africa's biggest port, which serves as the main gateway for imports and exports in the region. "Based on intelligence gathered, the ship is suspected to be carrying fire arms and drugs…

Shipping activity at Kenya's port of Mombasa, East Africa's biggest, rose by 11 percent in the first half of 2015 as vessel wait times fell, the national port authority said on Wednesday. Gichiri Ndua, Kenya Ports Authority managing director, said the performance reflected progress in the integration of east African countries to ease the flow of trade. The port, a major trade gateway to east Africa, handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kenya, which faces increasing competition from other countries like Tanzania and Djibouti in the bid to serve land-locked and rapidly-growing neighbours, said increasing port efficiency is central to its infrastructure plan.

Cargo volumes at Dar es Salaam port are expected to rise as much as 25 percent this year, helped by expanded capacity and improved efficiency, Tanzanian president Jakaya Kikwete said in his last address to parliament before an election in October. The port, whose main rival is bigger but also congested Mombasa in Kenya, acts as a trade gateway for landlocked states such as Zambia, Rwanda, Malawi, Burundi and Uganda, as well as the eastern region of Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). "In 2014 the port handled 14.4 tonnes of cargo ... We expect it to reach 18 million tonnes this year," Kikwete said late on Thursday. "The port currently operates 24 hours a day and the speed of unloading and loading cargo has significantly increased ...

Mombasa, Kenya port workers end strike and returned to work on Friday after being warned they could lose their jobs, reports Reuters. However the members of the Trade Union Congress (TUC-K) said protests over changes to their health care costs could resume next week and aims to push the government to revoke the higher deductions for its national health insurance scheme. Sylvan Mghanga, an official at the port's communications department, said workers had returned to work fearing they would lose their jobs. "The management has never made such an announcement before, so it shocked and scared everyone, and that is why they have returned," said Mghanga, referring to a Friday morning deadline for striking workers to resume duty or be fired.

More than 2,000 workers at East Africa's biggest port in Kenya's coastal city Mombasa went on strike on Wednesday protesting an increase in the amount they will have to pay for state-run health insurance. Cargo ships remained unattended as workers gathered and held discussions in groups at the port, the biggest in the region, which handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia. "The operations section is among those affected but senior officials at the port are currently meeting, and will communicate later," Sylvan Mghanga, an official from the corporate communications department at the port, told Reuters.

The Working Harbor Committee is presenting a screening of the documentary film "Liemba!" on Tuesday, March 31 at the Community Church of NY. The screening will feature special guest speaker James Wong, Director of Ferries, NYC Economic Development Corp. "Liemba!" is a documentary on the history and significance of the 100-year old historic vessel MV Liemba, a ferry connecting communities and people with work on the great Lake Tanganyika, the second largest freshwater lake in the world. The lake is divided among four countries, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Zambia.

The acting director of Tanzania's port authority has been suspended pending an investigation into allegations he violated procurement procedures, officials said on Tuesday. The suspension comes at a time when the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam, a major gateway to east Africa long plagued by inefficiencies, is due to receive a major facelift as part of a push to become a regional trade hub. Director Madeni Kipande, whose predecessor was removed in a graft scandal two years ago, could not be immediately reached for comment. Local media quoted him as saying he had done nothing wrong.

Kenya signed a $270 million loan deal with Japan on Friday to help expand capacity at Mombasa port, a busy facility that is the main trade gateway to east Africa. The port handles fuel, consumer goods and other imports for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, as well as regional tea and coffee exports. Container traffic through the port reached about one million twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2014, up 11.9 percent on a year earlier. The port management said it expected a 30 percent increase to 1.3 million TEUs in 2015. Officials said the loan would support the purchase of cargo handling equipment, help finance a brand new container terminal and aid construction of another terminal already being built.

Container traffic through East Africa's biggest port of Mombasa grew by 11.9 percent in 2014, helped by its expanded capacity, a marketing drive, and new infrastructure built to shorten the turnaround time for ships, port management said on Wednesday. The Indian Ocean port is seen as a measure for economic activity in east Africa as it handles fuel, consumer goods and other imports for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, and exports of tea and coffee from the region.

CMA CGM to improve its ASEA service between Asia and East Africa with the launching of ASEA Kenya and ASEA Tanzania. The CMA CGM Group’s Asia-East Africa (ASEA) service upgrade is scheduled to begin December 2014 with the launch of two new services. ASEA Kenya and ASEA Tanzania, will now accompany East African markets’ growth and replace the ASEA one single service, reducing transit times from Asia and improving reliability, the company said. CMA CGM intermodal and logistics solutions will connect African land-locked countries to Asia.

East Africa's biggest port, Mombasa, expects to handle at least 14 percent more cargo this year, helped by its expanded capacity and a marketing drive, its management said on Thursday. The Indian Ocean port handles fuel, consumer goods and other imports for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Somalia, and exports of tea and coffee from the region. Gichiri Ndua, the port's managing director, said in a statement that they expected a cargo throughput of 25.5 million tonnes this year, up from 22.31 million handled in 2013. Between January and October this year, cargo volumes at the port rose 8.3 percent to 15.8 million tonnes compared with the same period in 2013, Ndua said.

Kenya is yet to decide whether to turn east Africa's only oil refinery into an oil storage facility or pay for its upgrade after buying the remaining 50 percent stake from India's Essar Energy, the energy minister said on Friday. Fuel distributors have long complained about the poor quality products from the 50-year-old refinery in the port city of Mombasa and prefer importing cheaper and better imports. Kenya's government has agreed to pay Essar $5 million to buy the Indian firm's half of the refinery after Essar exited the joint venture in November 2013 and abandoned plans for a $1.2 billion upgrade on the advice of consultants who said it was not economically viable.

Protesters in Kenya blocked truckers on the only highway from Mombasa port to the capital Nairobi on Friday, threatening to choke the main trade artery with much of east Africa. More than two hundred residents in Voi, a town located 142 km (89 miles) inland from Mombasa, halted traffic with burning tyres to demand jobs from a Chinese company contracted to build a section of a railway in the area. East Africa's largest economy is the world's biggest exporter of black tea and blockage of the road to the port could disrupt shipments. At least 90 percent of all cargo arriving at the Indian Ocean port of Mombasa is ferried to final destinations in Kenya and landlocked neighbours by road, with trucks the main mode of transport.