Tanzania dreams big with port project

Bagamoyo - In its heyday, Bagamayo was a gateway to the heart of Africa for colonisers, with trade goods surging in from the Indian Ocean, and timber, ivory and countless slaves exported from the east coast harbour.

Then Bagamoyo, which looks out towards the island of Zanzibar, fell on lean times for more than a century. Now Tanzania plans an $11bn project to make it the region's biggest port and an engine of Africa's boom.

The Chinese-backed project would dwarf Kenya's port at Mombasa, east Africa's trade gateway some 300km to the north, and include an industrial zone and rail and road links to capitalise on growth in a region hoping to exploit new oil and gas finds.