Review of cargo centre management finalized
The Public Private Partnership Commission (PPPC) has finalised a review of the agreement between the government and Malawi Cargo Centres Limited, in which Malawi Cargo will take up the responsibility of maintaining and rehabilitating two cargo centres.
The government procured two cargo centres—Mbeya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania— under a bilateral agreement with the Tanzanian government.
PPPC Chief Executive Officer, Jimmy Lipunga, said the agreement will now see Malawi Cargo investing $4 million for the maintenance works over a period of 25 years.
“This arrangement is operated under a leCargoase arrangement. In order to improve the facilities, it was decided that the agreement be upgraded into a Public Private Partnership (PPP) so that the government can leverage on private sector financing and expertise.
“PPPC has now finalised a review of the agreement between the government and Malawi Cargo Centres Limited, in which the latter has committed to investing $4 million. The agreement has been reviewed by the Ministry of Justice and is now awaiting signing by the parties after securing clearances,” Lipunga said.
He further said the cargo centres were an integral part of the country’s Northern Corridor for purposes of facilitating import and exports.
Lipunga said the Northern Corridor offers another door for imports as most goods come through the port of Dar es Salaam.
“The new agreement will allow improvement in service delivery as the government will have to concentrate on other things while the companies will be handling the centres.
“As competition between the companies stiffens, we expect the cost of transport to go down,” he said.
Previously, the government and a private consortium were responsible for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the centres but now that responsibility has been transferred to the consortium.
