New Delhi | Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone (APSEZ) on Friday said its subsidiary company has signed a 30-year concession agreement with the Tanzania Ports Authority to operate and manage a terminal at the Dar es Salaam Port in the east African country.

The Dar es Salaam Port is a gateway port with a well-connected network of roadways and railways, and concession agreement signed by Adani International Ports Holdings Pte Ltd (AIPH) marks the entry of Adani Ports into Tanzania.

Adani Ports-led consortium will acquire the project company in Tanzania, which houses all port handling equipment and employees, for an amount of USD 39.5 million, APSEZ said in a statement.

East Africa Gateway Ltd (EAGL) has been incorporated as a joint venture of AIPH, AD Ports Group, and East Harbour Terminals Ltd (EHTL), the statement added.

APSEZ will be the controlling shareholder and will consolidate EAGL on its books, it said.

According to the statement, EAGL has signed a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of 95 per cent stake in Tanzania International Container Terminal Services Limited (TICTS) from Hutchison Port Holdings Limited (and its affiliate Hutchison Port Investments Limited) and Harbours Investment Limited for a purchase consideration of USD 39.5 million.

"TICTS currently owns all the port handling equipment and employs the manpower," the statement said, adding that Adani will operate CT2 through TICTS Container Terminal 2, with four berths, has an annual cargo handling capacity of 1 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) and managed 0.82 million TEUs of containers in 2023 -- about 83 per cent of Tanzania's total container volumes.

APSEZ managing director Karan Adani said that the signing of the concession for Container Terminal 2 at Dar es Salaam Port is in line with APSEZ's ambition of becoming one of the largest port operators globally by 2030.

"We are confident that with our expertise and network in ports and logistics, we will be able to enhance trade volumes and economic cooperation between our ports and East Africa. We will strive to transform Dar es Salaam Port into a world class port," Adani added.

APSEZ is a part of the globally diversified Adani Group. It is the largest port developer and operator in India with 7 strategically located ports and terminals on the west coast (Mundra, Tuna, Dahej, and Hazira in Gujarat, Mormugao in Goa, Dighi in Maharashtra and Vizhinjam in Kerala) and 8 ports and terminals on the East coast of India (Haldia in West Bengal, Dhamra and Gopalpur in Odisha, Gangavaram and Krishnapatnam in Andhra Pradesh, Kattupalli and Ennore in Tamil Nadu and Karaikal in Puducherry)