Build It, Then What?
There’s a quiet trap in African infrastructure dreams: the assumption that concrete and steel guarantee progress. In East Africa, the logic of “build it and they will come” is being challenged by expensive railways, underused dry ports, and corridors that promise connectivity but deliver congestion.
Tanzania now stands at a decisive moment. The Dar es Salaam Port is undergoing a billion-dollar facelift. The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is steadily expanding from Dar to the heart of the country. Kwala Dry Port has been inaugurated to ease congestion and streamline inland cargo distribution. On paper, the pieces are coming together. But so did they in Kenya. And Ethiopia. Both countries built impressive infrastructure. Both struggled with the same problem: operations.
This article reflects on operational failures in Nairobi and Addis Ababa, not to mock, but to learn. For Tanzania, hindsight is not a luxury; it is a weapon. Because in the logistics game, infrastructure gets you in the game. Operations win it.
Kenya’s SGR: Shiny Rails, Financial Sinkhole
Kenya’s SGR is a cautionary tale of scale without sustainability. Stretching from Mombasa to Naivasha, the railway promised to shift freight from trucks to rails and to anchor Kenya’s logistics dominance in the region. But nearly a decade in, it is struggling under the weight of its ambition.
Yes, freight volumes have increased, Q1 of 2025 saw a 40% rise, pushing cargo tonnage to 1.82 million. But that surge is a fragile victory. Behind it lies an uncomfortable truth: the railway has not solved Kenya’s logistics cost dilemma. Instead, it has merely shifted it. The forced haulage policy, where cargo owners were required to use the SGR, sparked backlash from transporters, traders, and regional partners. Rather than being a magnet for cargo, the SGR became a contested space of control versus consent.
More damning is the debt. With loan repayments biting into fiscal space, Kenya is left with a gleaming asset that cannot yet justify its economic burden. The lesson? Operational viability must be earned, not assumed. A railway is not made profitable by policy force, it is made sustainable by alignment with market logic.
Ethiopia’s Dry Port Dilemma
If Kenya’s SGR failed on the policy front, Ethiopia’s logistics weakness lies in institutional misalignment. The Addis Ababa–Djibouti SGR, completed in 2018, was designed to turbocharge trade for a landlocked nation. It connects directly to Modjo Dry Port, Ethiopia’s main inland terminal, handling 95% of its imports. But today, that same dry port is the corridor’s weakest link.
Modjo has become a symbol of bottlenecked ambition. Poor digital integration between Djibouti Port and Ethiopian customs systems means containers often sit idle, awaiting clearance or mismatched routing instructions. Despite having modern rail delivery, the port suffers from chronic congestion and limited storage capacity. A study published in 2025 reveals that Modjo accounts for 86% of delays in Ethiopia’s international supply chain.
Why? Because the infrastructure was delivered without synchronized operations. Rail brought cargo faster than the dry port could process it. Systems between institutions didn’t talk, the result: inefficiency compounded by opacity. For Tanzania, the lesson is urgent, build interoperability, not just infrastructure. An SGR cannot succeed if it ends in a dry port that behaves like a storage yard.
Tanzania’s Opportunity; But Also Its Risk
Unlike its neighbors, Tanzania has a rare alignment of timing and insight. The country is not just building infrastructure, it is doing so with the benefit of watching others stumble. The Dar Port upgrades are nearly complete, Kwala Dry Port is operational, and the SGR is already moving test cargo from the port inland.
But warning signs are emerging. Despite the physical link between the port, dry port, and rail, there is still no unified intermodal operations framework. TPA, TRC, and TRA are not yet fully synchronized in real-time cargo tracking, document handling, or turnaround targets. As a result, anecdotal reports show SGR wagons leaving Dar with less-than-optimal loads, and Kwala struggling to attract voluntary cargo due to limited value-add beyond offloading.
What Ethiopia and Kenya teach us is simple: logistics systems are like orchestras. One discordant instrument ruins the whole performance. Tanzania risks inheriting the same fate, not due to lack of infrastructure, but due to the absence of systems logic. This is not about building more; it is about managing better.
Rethinking Operations as Infrastructure
In logistics, operations are infrastructure. They are the invisible rails upon which everything else runs. For Tanzania, the path forward must be clear: build an operational blueprint that rivals the engineering one.
First, create a National Intermodal Operations Committee, not a coordination desk, but a decision-making body with authority across TPA, TRC, TRA, and the Ministry of Works and Transport. This body should define throughput targets, monitor cargo flows, and troubleshoot bottlenecks in real time.
Second, deploy Smart Cargo Bundling Incentives. Instead of forcing traders to use SGR, offer consolidated booking services, digital customs pre-clearance, and rebates on combined port-to-rail-to-ICD packages. Make the SGR the path of least resistance, not a regulatory burden.
Third, build an open API logistics dashboard, integrating port, rail, and ICD systems, for visibility across all actors. Without transparency, coordination will always be hostage to friction and bureaucracy.
Infrastructure projects often celebrate groundbreaking ceremonies. But Tanzania should reserve its applause for the day when a container leaves Dar, arrives at Kwala, and reaches Mbeya without a phone call or a bribe.
Turn Hindsight Into Strategy
Tanzania is not starting from scratch. It begins with history.
Kenya demonstrated how policy coercion erodes trust and hampers adoption. Ethiopia illustrated how infrastructure lacking interoperability results in bottlenecks worse than previous issues. Tanzania still has time to avoid these pitfalls.
With SGR lines in place, Dar port capacity rising, and Kwala ICD now open, the next chapter cannot be about ribbon-cutting. It must be about orchestration, making the system work as one. And it must be led not just by engineers or financiers, but by operators who understand that logistics is ultimately about flow, not form.
The mistake would be to think we are behind. We may be the only ones still in the game if we choose to play it differently.
🔗 Missed Day 3? The Invisible Infrastructure at Dar Port