By Prosper Makene
The Forbes Africa has recognised Dar es Salaam Merchant Group (DMG) as Tanzania’s class one shipbuilding capability which redefines ‘made in Tanzania’. *A key reason for the recognition was DMG’s successful reconstruction of MV Liemba – the world’s oldest operating passenger ship at 115+ years* – a project that proved Tanzania can restore and operate heritage vessels to modern safety and performance standards.
However, the _Forbes Africa_ dedicated pages 20-21 of its June/July 2026 “Africa’s New Blueprint for Growth: Tanzania” edition to DMG wasn’t just celebrating a company. It was announcing a shift. Tanzania had entered the Class One shipbuilding league – a club previously held by only two countries in Africa.
The feature titled _“Tanzania’s Class One Shipbuilding Capability”_ profiles DMG as a homegrown, multi-sector conglomerate delivering multi-million-dollar contracts while managing national maritime strategy. The numbers alone demand attention: US$58 million contract to construct a new passenger vessel in Kigoma, intent-to-award for four tugboats across Kigoma, Mwanza and Lake Nyasa, and a *US$1.3 million reconstruction of MV Liemba* that became a flagship case study for heritage vessel restoration.
But Forbes didn’t stop at contracts. It documented capacity. DMG’s refurbished vessel carries 1,200 passengers and 400 tons of cargo. That required full structural design, steel fabrication, engine installation, and coordination between Tanzanian engineers and South Korean specialists. For a country whose shipbuilding story once began and ended at repair yards, this was proof that design, fabrication, and delivery could happen entirely on Tanzanian soil.
The Real Story: Transferring Skill, Not Just Steel
What makes this a feature, not just a press release, is the human blueprint. Managing Director Rayton Kwembe told Forbes: _“We recruited about 100 local workers with limited shipbuilding experience. We now run the yard with only 9 Korean personnel.”_
That sentence captures DMG’s model. Step 1: Win the contract. Step 2: Recruit Tanzanian graduates from local universities. Step 3: Train them under Korean engineers with decades of shipbuilding experience. Step 4: Put Tanzanian engineers in managerial positions while expanding shipyard facilities in Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, and Zanzibar.
This approach challenges the old development narrative. Instead of importing finished ships and foreign experts indefinitely, DMG is importing knowledge and leaving behind capability. Forbes notes DMG built design capability by recruiting engineering graduates and investing heavily in physical infrastructure. The Kigoma facility now supports vessel construction on Lake Tanganyika, while Zanzibar expands coastal operations. This is “localization-driven” development – not transactional service.
Why “Class One” Matters
In shipbuilding, “Class One” status is a certification held by only two companies in Africa, according to DMG. It means your yard can independently design, fabricate, and deliver complex marine vessels to international classification standards without outsourcing core engineering. For Tanzania, an Indian Ocean and Great Lakes nation with over 3,500km of coastline and inland waters, that status is economic sovereignty.
Class One certification unlocks more than pride. It unlocks contracts. It reduces dependency on foreign yards. It creates a pipeline for local steel, local fabrication, and local marine engineers. When a government awards a US$58 million vessel to a Tanzanian firm, the money circulates: wages for welders in Kigoma, materials from Dar suppliers, training for students at Ardhi and UDSM.
Kwembe’s vision goes beyond hulls: “We lead development of Tanzania’s maritime policy, integrating ports, railways, and shipping operations.”He initiated a five-year strategy linking trade to domestic manufacturing. As Forbes puts it: “Trading has to be linked with manufacturing.” Without local production capacity, trade becomes a cycle of imports. DMG is breaking that cycle.
Kudos from Stakeholders: “This is the Tanzania We Dreamed Of”
The recognition has triggered waves of commendation from industry, technical experts, and the communities DMG serves.
Eric Hamissi, Managing Director of TASHICO, offered extensive praise for DMG’s achievement and its implications for Tanzania’s industrial sector:
“As Managing Director of TASHICO, I look at DMG’s journey and see the future we have been advocating for in Tanzania’s engineering and manufacturing space. What DMG has accomplished goes beyond constructing a vessel. They have built a system. They started with 100 young Tanzanians who had limited shipbuilding experience and, in a short time, positioned them to manage complex Class One construction with only 9 Korean supervisors. That is deliberate capacity building.
For years we have imported vessels, imported expertise, and exported our money. DMG has reversed that equation. They recruited our university graduates, invested in yards at Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, and Zanzibar, and proved that Tanzanians can design, fabricate, and deliver ships that meet international standards. This is what we mean by ‘local content with impact’.
At TASHICO we believe Tanzania’s next phase of growth will not come from trade alone. It will come from production. DMG is showing how trading must be linked with manufacturing, just as Forbes wrote. When you build ships here, you also build steel supply chains, welding skills, marine engineering courses, and pride in our youth. The US$58 million Kigoma vessel is not just a ship. It is 400 tons of cargo capacity, 1,200 passenger opportunities, and thousands of jobs for welders, electricians, and engineers._
My message to other Tanzanian companies is simple: Copy this model. Invest in people first. Bring in global partners not to do the work for us, but to teach us how to do it ourselves. DMG has set the benchmark. Class One is no longer a dream. It is a Tanzanian reality. And if we protect this momentum, the next Forbes cover will feature five Tanzanian shipyards, not one.”
William Kennedy, Maritime Safety & Ship Design Expert, added a technical perspective on the achievement: “From a maritime engineering standpoint, achieving Class One capability means DMG now controls the full design lifecycle – from hull lines and stability calculations to classification approvals and sea trials. That is what separates a repair yard from a shipbuilder. Most African yards stop at fabrication. DMG has moved into naval architecture and systems integration, which is why they can deliver a 1,200-passenger vessel with 400 tons cargo capacity without outsourcing core design. The speed at which their Tanzanian engineers took over management from Korean mentors shows the transfer of knowledge was structured, not symbolic. This creates a talent pipeline we desperately need for both inland lakes and the blue economy. If we protect this ecosystem, Tanzania will stop being a market for ships and become a supplier of ships to the region.”
On Lake Tanganyika, the impact is personal. _Mzee Juma Bakari, boat operator in Kigoma_, said: _“For years we watched ships come from outside. Now we hear the vessel was designed and built here, by our children. When that new ship sails, my passengers will know Tanzania can build. That pride is worth more than the ticket.”_
Even international partners are taking note. A senior official from the Korean engineering team working with DMG told Forbes off-record: _“We came to transfer skills. What surprised us was how fast Tanzanian engineers absorbed complex structural design. In 24 months, they went from apprentices to managers. That is rare.”_
The Blueprint for Growth
DMG combines deep local market intelligence with international governance and technical standards. It positions itself as a strategic partner to government, not a contractor waiting for tenders. That distinction matters for investors, development partners, and the 100+ technicians now skilled in steel fabrication and marine systems.
The company’s model is execution-first. Complex projects are delivered efficiently with reduced risk because core skills are internalized. This creates trust. When authorities issue contracts for national assets like passenger vessels and tugboats, they are not just buying steel. They are buying confidence in Tanzanian execution.
The Forbes feature ends where Tanzania’s next chapter begins: with technical expertise localized, jobs created, and a 10-year maritime horizon ahead. The shipyards in Dar, Kigoma, and Zanzibar are no longer just yards. They are classrooms, factories, and proof points.
Epilogue: From Recognition to Replication
Recognition by Forbes Africa puts DMG on the map. The harder work is making “Class One” the norm, not the exception. If DMG can take 100 inexperienced Tanzanian workers and build the largest passenger vessel on inland waters, then the question for every Tanzanian student, engineer, and entrepreneur is simple: What will you build next?
The cover is out. The blueprint is published. The contracts are real. Now Tanzania builds. And this time, we build it ourselves.
