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Did Tanzania’s President Really Cancel the Bagamoyo Port Deal with China? Probably Not.

by Eric Olander
The post from the website "Nairobiminibloggers. com" that sparked a wave of speculation about the fate of the $10 billion deal between Tanzania and China Merchant Holdings over the port of Bagamoyo.

There’s widespread speculation circulating that Tanzanian President John Magufuli canceled the controversial $10 billion Bagamoyo port deal with China Merchants Holding International (CMHI). The story surfaced last week after the little-known website “Nairobi Mini Bloggers” website published a post that definitively stated that the president moved to terminate the deal.

The Bagamoyo port deal has been highly contentious for years, dating back to 2013, when the government first started negotiations with CMHI to build a harbor and special economic zone in Bagamoyo, a port city 75km north of Dar es Salaam.

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