A nationwide driver strike in Tanzania has disrupted long-distance freight movements and reached Mbeya and Songwe on the Dar es Salaam–Zambia corridor, exposing the vulnerability of Zambia-bound supply chains to disruptions hundreds of kilometres inland from the port.
Drivers across Tanzania stopped work on 29 September in protest over traffic enforcement measures, including concerns about a driving-licence penalty-points system and licence suspensions.
The stoppage initially left passengers stranded across the country, but the disruption extended beyond passenger transport.
Tanzanian reporting confirms that lorry drivers also joined the action, disrupting parts of the country’s long-distance freight network. The strike was reported in Dar es Salaam, Dodoma, Mbeya, Songwe, Mwanza and other regions.
That puts the disruption directly on the route serving Zambia.
Mbeya and Songwe sit on the main road corridor connecting the Port of Dar es Salaam with Tunduma and Zambia’s Nakonde border.
In Mbeya, long-distance transport remained disrupted as regional authorities met drivers in an attempt to resolve the dispute. The Guardian reported that drivers maintained their stoppage despite intervention by the regional security committee.
There is not yet evidence establishing the scale of delays specifically to Zambia-bound cargo, but the involvement of truck drivers and disruption along the Mbeya/Songwe section creates a clear risk to freight moving through the corridor.
That matters because the problem is not at the port.
The Tanzania Ports Authority’s shipping list for 29 September continued to show container, tanker, dry-bulk, vehicle and general-cargo vessels being handled or scheduled at Dar es Salaam.
The potential constraint sits further inland.
Cargo can arrive and be handled normally at Dar es Salaam but still face delays if trucks cannot be positioned or moved efficiently along the road network towards Zambia.
For Zambian businesses, prolonged disruption could eventually translate into longer transit times and additional storage, demurrage and transport costs.
Tanzanian authorities have meanwhile disputed the basis for some of the drivers’ concerns.
Police said the licence-points system had not yet formally come into operation, while the government has described the current implementation as a trial and called for dialogue with drivers.
LN signal
The disruption exposes an important distinction in how Zambia measures corridor reliability.
A functioning port does not necessarily mean a functioning corridor.
Dar es Salaam can continue receiving and handling vessels while a disruption hundreds of kilometres inland slows the connection between the port and Zambia.
For businesses using the route, monitoring vessel activity at Dar is therefore not enough.
The number to watch now is truck movement through Mbeya, Songwe and Tunduma — and how quickly normal freight flows towards Nakonde are restored.
FILE PHOTO | Trucks at Tunduma on the Tanzania–Zambia corridor (The Citizen). A nationwide driver strike in Tanzania this week extended to freight movements and affected parts of the corridor serving Zambia.
