Dar es Salaam CITY PROFILING REPORT 2025

Dar es Salaam is one of Africa's fastest-growing cities and Tanzania's economic hub, though it faces significant challenges in infrastructure and governance. While the city's GDP is growing and it leads the country in startups and telecommunications, it is characterized by high levels of informality, with 70% of the population living in informal settlements. Public services such as water, sanitation, and waste management are underperforming, and the city is highly vulnerable to flooding and urban heat. Governance is heavily centralized, with local authorities relying on the national government for approximately 75% to 90% of their revenue, severely limiting their fiscal autonomy and ability to address local needs.

• Dar es Salaam is experiencing rapid urban expansion, with its urban area growing by 133% between 2011 and 2022, while the population grew by 75% in the same period. It is projected to become a megacity of over 10 million people by 2030.
• Informal settlements are pervasive in the city, with UN-HABITAT estimating that 80% of Dar es Salaam's territory is informal and only 30% of the population lives in formal housing.
• The city's economy is dominated by the tertiary sector (61% of formal employment) and a large informal sector, which contributes 22.5% of GDP and 41.5% of total employment. Unemployment is high, particularly among youth, with a city-wide rate of 20.5%.
• Water and sanitation services are inadequate; while 79.5% of households have access to piped water, only 18% of flush toilets are connected to the sewer system. Approximately 50% of generated excreta is not safely contained on-site.
• Solid waste management is poorly executed, with 21% of households burning or burying waste and 5% disposing of it in open spaces. The Pugu Kinyamwezi landfill is described as an 'open dumping site' due to a lack of pollution control mechanisms.
• Energy access is high for lighting (86% grid electricity), but cooking remains dependent on solid fuels, with 43% of households using charcoal. Demand for charcoal quadrupled from 0.22 million tonnes in 1990 to 0.94 million tonnes in 2018.
• The city's road network is underdeveloped, with only 4.8% of total road length being paved. Traffic congestion is a major challenge, and residents spend approximately 34% of their average monthly income on transportation.
• Dar es Salaam is highly vulnerable to climate-related hazards, specifically recurring flooding from sea level rise and river overflows. The 2018 floods cost $100 million and reduced the city's GDP by 2%.
• Environmental degradation is evident through the loss of 121 hectares of humid primary forest between 2002 and 2024, and air quality is poor, with PM2.5 concentrations (10 µg/m3) exceeding WHO standards (5 µg/m3).
• Local governance is characterized by extreme centralization; local authorities rely on the central government for 67% to 90% of their revenue, and the President appoints the executive directors of councils, undermining local autonomy.

APA

Mongae, M. (2025). Dar es Salaam CITY PROFILING REPORT 2025. Good Governance Africa. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2025/11/Dar-es-Salaam-African-Cities-Report-2025.pdf

Chicago

Mongae, Mmabatho. Dar es Salaam CITY PROFILING REPORT 2025. Good Governance Africa, 2025. https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2025/11/Dar-es-Salaam-African-Cities-Report-2025.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Mongae |first1=Mmabatho |title=Dar es Salaam CITY PROFILING REPORT 2025 |publisher=Good Governance Africa |date=2025 |url=https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2025/11/Dar-es-Salaam-African-Cities-Report-2025.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{mongae2025dar, author = {Mongae, Mmabatho}, title = {{Dar es Salaam CITY PROFILING REPORT 2025}}, institution = {Good Governance Africa}, year = {2025}, url = {https://digitalmallblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wp-content/2025/11/Dar-es-Salaam-African-Cities-Report-2025.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }