DP World announced on 2 November a weekly shipping link between China, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and Maputo in Mozambique. Named China Africa Link, the service is due to start at the end of November 2026 under the operation of Shipping Solutions.
The rotation will call at Shanghai, Ningbo and Nansha, then Port Klang in Malaysia, before the two African calls and a return via Singapore. It targets Chinese industrial goods as well as African agricultural and mining exports.
Maputo prepares increased capacity
In Maputo, the service accompanies an extension of the container terminal begun on 1 May 2025. The programme, then valued at 165 million dollars, is to raise its capacity from 255,000 to 530,000 twenty-foot equivalent units. The TEU is the reference unit for containerised transport.
The works also include a quay of 650 metres and a berth depth of 16 metres, to accommodate larger vessels. Three additional cranes are to accompany the increase in handling capacity.
The programme includes more than 700 reefer plugs for refrigerated containers, intended in particular to support agricultural exports. It thus combines the expansion of facilities with equipment suited to perishable goods, beyond the mere increase in the number of containers handled.
Dar es Salaam under concession since 2023
In Dar es Salaam, DP World now says it has committed more than 500 million dollars to modernising the port. This announcement of a commitment is not a statement of expenditure actually made.
The operating framework dates back to the thirty-year concession signed with the Tanzania Ports Authority on 22 October 2023. The announcement at the time foresaw an initial investment of more than 250 million dollars and considered up to one billion during the concession, with logistics projects in the hinterland. These amounts describe distinct stages and fields, without allowing a comparable progression to be calculated.
The concession signing also precedes the start of its operations. In a review published on 8 July 2026, DP World places the start of its operations in April 2024 and describes the modernisation of vehicle handling, notably through the use of roll-on/roll-off vessels.