Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, has embarked on the construction of a major petroleum storage facility intended to strengthen the country’s energy logistics and support its broader ambition of becoming a regional maritime and trade hub. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan recently presided over the foundation ceremony for new oil reception and distribution storage tanks at the Port of Dar es Salaam, a project that forms part of wider infrastructure improvements across the country’s transport and energy sectors.
According to the Tanzania Ports Authority, the new facility is being developed at Tungi in the Kigamboni district of Dar es Salaam. The project will deliver 15 storage tanks with a combined capacity of approximately 378000 cubic metres. The tanks are designed to store diesel, petrol and Jet A1 aviation fuel, expanding the port’s capacity to receive and distribute petroleum products. Officials state that the initiative aims to reduce congestion during fuel offloading and improve supply reliability for both domestic consumption and industrial activity.
Construction is being undertaken through a joint venture between China Railway Major Bridge Engineering Group and WUHUAN Engineering. As of early March 2026, project implementation had reached around 41 percent completion. Preliminary works reported by the Tanzania Ports Authority include site preparation, the installation of more than one thousand tank foundation piles and the construction of pile caps that support the structural base of the storage units.
The Port of Dar es Salaam occupies a central position in the maritime and trade architecture of East Africa. Research examining the port’s development notes that it serves as a gateway not only for Tanzania but also for several landlocked neighbouring economies including Zambia, Malawi, Burundi, Rwanda and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo, making improvements to its infrastructure regionally significant (Humphreys et al., 2019). Studies of East African transport corridors also indicate that the port handles a substantial share of regional cargo flows and plays a critical role in linking inland markets with global supply chains (Bulzomi et al., 2014).
Tanzanian authorities have increasingly prioritised upgrades to the port’s operational capacity in response to rising cargo volumes and competition among regional maritime gateways. Analyses of port reform and infrastructure investment in East Africa suggest that enhanced logistics capacity, including energy storage and handling facilities, can improve operational efficiency and reduce bottlenecks that historically affected maritime throughput (Dooms and Farrell, 2017). In Tanzania’s case, improvements to petroleum storage infrastructure have also been framed as a matter of national energy security, given the country’s reliance on imported refined petroleum products (Nyakachara and Ngongi, 2024).
During the ceremony, President Hassan emphasised that recent reforms and increased participation from private sector operators in port management have already contributed to improved efficiency and increased government revenue. The addition of the new storage tanks is expected to complement these reforms by enabling more timely handling of petroleum shipments and by reducing delays experienced during offloading operations.
Scholarly assessments of port infrastructure development across East Africa indicate that modernisation of facilities such as fuel terminals, storage depots and cargo handling systems is closely linked to broader economic performance. Efficient maritime logistics systems can lower transport costs, facilitate regional trade and support industrial production by ensuring a stable supply of essential commodities including fuel (Muhanga, 2025). For Tanzania, whose coastal position places it along key Indian Ocean shipping routes, these investments are frequently interpreted as part of a longer term strategy to consolidate the country’s role within regional trade networks.
Within the wider African context, the expansion of energy storage and port infrastructure reflects a pattern seen across several coastal economies seeking to strengthen logistical resilience and support continental trade integration. Analysts have observed that ports such as Dar es Salaam and Mombasa continue to evolve as strategic nodes in the continent’s transport corridors, connecting inland economies to international markets while supporting domestic development priorities (Prause, 2024).
While the new facility is primarily designed to meet Tanzania’s domestic fuel distribution needs, its scale and location suggest that it may also support regional energy logistics over time. For countries within the East African Community and the broader Southern and Eastern African transport corridors, reliable access to fuel infrastructure remains an important component of economic activity, from aviation and manufacturing to cross border freight transport.
The development at Tungi therefore represents not only a national infrastructure project but also part of a wider regional conversation about connectivity, energy security and African led approaches to economic integration. As construction progresses, the facility is expected to add substantial storage capacity to the Dar es Salaam port complex and reinforce Tanzania’s position within the maritime networks that shape trade across the eastern and southern regions of the continent.
