Uganda, Feb. 18 -- When Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan visited Uganda in May 2022, she dangled a host of incentives to attract Ugandan traders back to the Dar es Salaam port. This included removing trade barriers and improving investment in transport along the central corridor.

President Suluhu secured a bilateral agreement with Uganda to bring down the tab that Uganda-bound cargo trucks from Dar es Salaam - through Mutukula - picked from $500 (Shs1.9m) per 100km to $10 (Shs38,000). This went into effect at the start of the 2022/2023 Financial Year.

Even with these incentives, most of the goods in Uganda come through Mombasa, with traders citing the costs of going through Dar es Salaam as being high.

Tanzania for years has bee...