Tanzania dumped a bunch of money into fixing up Lake Tanganyika ports and shipyards because it wanted the place to handle way more cargo from the Congo and neighboring countries. The port authority director says they spent over 100 billion shillings upgrading facilities in Kigoma, Katavi, and Rukwa, and they partnered with Chinese firms to build four massive cargo ships that can each haul 2,000 tons of stuff across the water.
The main cargo coming through is minerals from mining zones in eastern Congo, like lithium and copper, that get moved across the lake to Kigoma before heading to coastal ports on the Standard Gauge Railway. Ship traffic jumped from 425 visits to 551 in recent years, and total cargo moved went from around 277,000 tons to nearly 398,000 tons.
Congo accounts for most of the business at 71 percent of all cargo handled, with Burundi taking another 15 percent. Construction materials and fuel shipments both exploded because Congolese towns are apparently building everything at once.
The main cargo coming through is minerals from mining zones in eastern Congo, like lithium and copper, that get moved across the lake to Kigoma before heading to coastal ports on the Standard Gauge Railway. Ship traffic jumped from 425 visits to 551 in recent years, and total cargo moved went from around 277,000 tons to nearly 398,000 tons.
Congo accounts for most of the business at 71 percent of all cargo handled, with Burundi taking another 15 percent. Construction materials and fuel shipments both exploded because Congolese towns are apparently building everything at once.
