Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
In Tanzania all land is public land held by the President as trustee, so nobody owns Dar es Salaam's ground outright — they hold rights of occupancy registered at the Ministry of Lands, where anyone may request an official search, and the owners that can be named are the State's own agencies, its pension funds and the companies that announce their own projects.
7 buildings · 7 with an owner established · 23 sources · 6 tier A · 1 tier B · prepared 2026-10-21
Can you find out who owns it?
Under Tanzania's land law all land is public land vested in the President as trustee for all citizens; what people and companies hold is a right of occupancy (a granted, time-limited title) or a unit title in a building, not freehold (s1). Titles are registered by the Ministry of Lands' Registrar of Titles under the Land Registration Act, Cap. 334, with a zonal registry in Dar es Salaam (s2). Section 97 of that Act says any person may inspect the land register and may require an official search of any parcel, receiving the subsisting entries, for the prescribed fee (s3). There is no free online owner lookup and no bulk owner file; the e-Ardhi system is an account-based service portal.
Is ownership public?Public, but one paid search at a time
Cost of one title searchNot available at any price
Bulk ownership dataNone published
Sale pricesAggregates only — no individual sales
Sites that forbid taking their data
- dailynews.co.tz — “Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials ... for personal, non-commercial transitory viewing only ... you may not: modify or copy the materials; use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display”
- www.dpworld.com — “You may print off one copy, and may download extracts, of any page(s) from Our Website for your personal use ... You must not use any part of the content on Our Website for commercial purposes without obtaining a licence to do so”
- www.nssf.go.tz — “This website contains material which is owned by or licensed to us ... Reproduction is prohibited other than in accordance with the copyright notice”
- tanzlii.org — “robots.txt: 'Content-Signal: ai-train=no, search=yes, ai-input=no' — 'ANY RESTRICTIONS EXPRESSED VIA CONTENT SIGNALS ARE EXPRESS RESERVATIONS OF RIGHTS'. Not read; the Land Registration Act was read from the Ministry of Lands' own copy instead.”
- nation.africa (terms host for thecitizen.co.tz) — “robots.txt: 'Content-Signal: search=yes,ai-train=no,use=reference' and 'User-agent: ClaudeBot / Disallow: /'. The Citizen's terms links point to nation.africa, so The Citizen's articles were not opened.”
1
The marquee buildings
The towers that set the tone of the core, and who holds them. A price is the price a document states, on the date it states — not an estimate of what the building is worth now.
| Building | Use | Owner | Owner type | Last price paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Port of Dar es Salaam (Bandari ya Dar es Salaam) One Bandari Road, Kurasini, Dar es Salaam 1,090,000 m² port area; 2,600 m of quay, 12 berths |
Industrial | Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) — State landlord port authority; berths 0–7 operated by DP World under a 30-year concession TPA's own page gives the port's size as 1,090,000 sqm, 2,600 m of quay and 12 berths, handling about 95% of Tanzania's international trade (s8). TPA was 'established by the Ports Act No. 17 of 2004 as landlord port authority', entering 'licensing and concessions for port services' (s9). DP World signed a 30-year concession with TPA on 22 Oct 2023 to operate and modernise the multi-purpose port, investing more than US$250 million initially, possibly rising to US$1 billion (s10); DP World states it operates berths 0–7 at Terminal 1 (s11). The concession is an operating right, not a transfer of the land. |
Government | —A |
| Julius Nyerere International Airport (Kiwanja cha Ndege cha Kimataifa cha Julius Nyerere, JNIA) Julius Nyerere International Airport, Dar es Salaam (IATA DAR) |
Civic | Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA), for the Government TAA's own page describes the airports it lists, JNIA among them, as 'viwanja vya ndege vinavyomilikiwa na kusimamiwa na Mamlaka' (airports owned and managed by the Authority), and its statutory functions include building, operating and managing the infrastructure, buildings and equipment of 'viwanja vya ndege vya Serikali' (Government airports) and safeguarding airport land (s12). No area, valuation or title figure for the JNIA site was found on an official page. |
Government | —A |
| PSSSF Twin Tower (formerly PSPF Commercial Towers) Mission Street, Posta, Ilala, Dar es Salaam |
Mixed use | Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) PSSSF lists the PSSSF Twin Tower (Posta, Ilala) as a commercial property in its own real-estate investment portfolio and says it 'was developed by the Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) as part of its real estate investment portfolio', two towers of about 35 floors combining offices, retail and residential space (s5, s6). Wikipedia lists PSPF Commercial Tower 1 at 157 m and 35 floors (2014), the tallest in Tanzania at completion (s13). No price or value per building is published. |
Pension fund | —A |
| Mzizima Towers Dar es Salaam (city centre) about 95,018 m² total construction area · 35 floors |
Mixed use | National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Daily News (17 Mar 2026): the 'Mzizima Towers Project worth 322.02bn/-' is 'being implemented by the National Social Security Fund (NSSF)' — a 35-storey commercial tower and a 32-storey residential tower, about 95,018 m², with a five-star hotel to be operated by Radisson Hotel Group (156 rooms, 132 serviced apartments). The government minister reported 91% completion, completion due 31 Dec 2026 and the hotel in March 2027; work began in April 2013 and TZS 201.43bn had been spent (s7). The cost is a project budget, not a sale price. |
Pension fund | —A |
| Mlimani City (mall, conference centre, office park and villas) Plot No. 2, Block L, Ubungo Area, Sam Nujoma Road, Dar es Salaam 29,500 m² lettable mall; 5,000 m² conference centre; 15,000 m² office park; 50 villas |
Retail | Mlimani Holdings Limited (99.99% Island View (Pty) Ltd, 0.01% Turnstar Holdings Limited — wholly within Turnstar Holdings Limited, Botswana) Turnstar Holdings 100% (99.99% via Island View (Pty) Ltd, 0.01% directly) Turnstar's 2022 annual report: 'The property registered in the name of Mlimani Holdings Limited, subsidiary company, was valued on 31 January 2022'; it lists 'Mlimani City — Plot 2, Block L, Ubungo' at fair value BWP 1,034,645,187, and Island View (Pty) Ltd holds 99.99% of Mlimani Holdings, Turnstar 0.01% (s15). The mall (opened Nov 2006, 97 shops) was 100% let, the office park 38%; rentals are ceded as loan security to two Botswana banks; litigation over Mlimani City was pending (s15). Turnstar's page calls it 'a US $ 100 million mixed use premier shopping and conference complex' (s16). Fair value is a valuation, not a price. |
Public company | —A |
| Morocco Square Morocco junction, Kinondoni, Dar es Salaam 110,000 m² gross floor area (47,793 m² offices, 28,827 m² commercial, 24,924 m² residential, 8,456 m² hotel) |
Mixed use | National Housing Corporation (NHC) — offices, retail and hotel; the 100 flats were sold to buyers who are not named Daily News (30 May 2025), reporting the Lands Minister's budget speech: NHC 'has completed the Morocco Square project in Dar es Salaam', a TZS 137bn development stalled since 2018 and revived after the government in 2023 authorised NHC to borrow TZS 174bn for it and two other projects; 'all 100 residential units at Morocco Square have since been sold and commercial and office spaces leased' (s17). NHC's own site lists Morocco Square Mall among its projects, 100% complete (s18). Wikipedia names one tower 'NHC Morocco Square Office Tower 2', 20 floors (s13). TZS 137bn is the project cost, not a price. |
Government | —A |
| Benjamin Mkapa Stadium (Uwanja wa Benjamin Mkapa, National Stadium) Temeke, Dar es Salaam 60,000 seats |
Civic | Government of Tanzania (Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports) Daily News (19 Apr 2024): the second phase of renovation follows 'last year's reconstruction, which cost the government 4bn/-', and the facelift 'will sum up to 31bn/-' (s21). Daily News (1 May 2026): the pitch rebuild for AFCON 2027 is run by the Ministry of Information, Culture, Arts and Sports, and the stadium has 60,000 seats (s22). Neither article uses the word 'owner'; the attribution rests on the government paying for and the ministry managing the works. Renovation spend is not a price. |
Government | —B |
2
The core land
The most valuable ground in the city, and what the public record says about it.
The highest-priced ground is around the CBD (Kivukoni sub-ward) and the northern shoreline. The only systematic land-price data is the Government Chief Valuer's survey, which is collected every 2–3 years and is not published as a table. The figures below come from a peer-reviewed analysis of the 2020 survey and the Ministry's own counts.
Highest 2020 residential land price, by sub-ward (Chief Valuer data)TZS 2,000,000
Maximum of 452 sub-ward averages of the Government Chief Valuer's 2020 residential land prices; mean TZS 154,067, median TZS 53,750, minimum TZS 3,750 (Table 1). The paper gives prices in TZS and does not state the area unit; hot spots cluster around the CBD (s23, CC BY 4.0, Nov 2025).
New titles registered, Dar es Salaam region, 2025/26 to 15 May 202621,153 titles; 891 unit titles; 57,657 transactions and documents
Minister's budget speech 2026/27, Jedwali Na. 3 (s4).
Plots surveyed and approved, Dar es Salaam, 2025/26 to 15 May 202622,850 plots
Minister's budget speech 2026/27, Jedwali Na. 6; 862 town-planning drawings covering 32,131 plots (Jedwali Na. 10) (s4).
3
Who owns the town
At this scale the significant owner is rarely a trust or a fund: it is one or two local holding companies, a family in its second or third generation, and often the land around the town rather than the buildings in it.
Every hectare in Dar es Salaam is public land held by the President as trustee, so the city's largest 'owners' are the State and its own bodies, which hold the port, the airport, the stadium and most of the towers. The ports authority alone holds about 1.09 million m² of port area. The two state pension funds and the National Housing Corporation are the biggest builders and landlords; Wikipedia's list of the city's tallest buildings is dominated by them. Figures below are each body's own published statement, not register extracts. No religious-body or private landholder figure was found on an official page, so none is listed.
| Name | Type | Holdings |
|---|---|---|
| United Republic of Tanzania — the President as trustee of all land The Ministry of Lands states that 'kwa kuwa ardhi ya Tanzania ni mali ya wananchi wote, Rais ndiye mwenye dhamana' — because Tanzania's land belongs to all citizens, the President is its trustee — and that land needed for national development may be taken with full, fair and prompt compensation under the Land Act No. 4 of 1999 (s1). Up to 15 May 2026 the Ministry had registered 21,153 new titles, 891 unit titles and 57,657 title transactions and legal documents in Dar es Salaam region in the 2025/26 year (s4). |
Government | All land (rights of occupancy are granted out of it)A |
| Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) TPA is the statutory landlord port authority under the Ports Act No. 17 of 2004 (s9); its own port page gives the Dar es Salaam port area as 1,090,000 sqm (s8). Berths 0–7 are operated by DP World under a 30-year concession signed 22 Oct 2023 (s10, s11). |
Government | Port of Dar es Salaam: 1,090,000 m², 2,600 m of quay, 12 berthsA |
| Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) TAA describes its airports as 'owned and managed by the Authority' and its statutory duties include safeguarding airport land (s12). No hectare figure for the JNIA site was found. |
Government | Julius Nyerere International Airport and the other government airports it listsA |
| National Social Security Fund (NSSF) NSSF's audited statement of net assets at 30 June 2025 shows investment properties of TZS 1,048,591,000 thousand and tradable inventories of TZS 911,641,808 thousand, out of total assets of TZS 10.22 trillion (s14). In Dar es Salaam it is building Mzizima Towers (s7) and the Mtoni Kijichi estate (s19), and in Kigamboni the Dungu Farm and Toangoma estates (s20). The totals are national; no Dar es Salaam split is published. |
Pension fund | Investment properties TZS 1,048.6bn; tradable (housing) inventories TZS 911.6bn (30 Jun 2025, all Tanzania)A |
| National Housing Corporation (NHC, Shirika la Nyumba la Taifa) Daily News, reporting the Lands Minister's 2025 budget speech: NHC 'is also committed to renovating its housing portfolio, with 3,004 houses in 205 buildings already renovated and another 1,546 undergoing repairs' (s17). The 2026/27 speech says NHC planned to renovate 1,600 of its houses in 2025/26 and had done 1,283 by 15 May 2026; NHC's mandate includes building homes and other buildings for sale and rent, managing estates and collecting rent on its houses (s4). Its total stock and land area are not published. |
Government | 3,004 houses in 205 buildings renovated, 1,546 more under repair (May 2025, national); 1,283 renovated in 2025/26A |
| Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) PSSSF's investments page lists its real estate by type (commercial, hotels, parking, plots, residential) and location (Ilala, Kinondoni and other regions), featuring PSSSF Twin Tower in Posta, Ilala and the PSSSF Complex at Mlimani City (s6, s5). No floor area or value is published there. |
Pension fund | Real-estate portfolio including PSSSF Twin Tower (Posta) and PSSSF Complex (Mlimani City)A |
5
Who builds the houses
New-home building in this market: the volume, and the firms behind it. Ownership of a builder matters as much as its volume — a private-equity platform and a family firm behave differently.
New housing in Dar es Salaam is overwhelmingly self-built on plots, often unplanned: the Ministry's table of formalised informal settlements (urasimishaji) counts 10,747 in Dar es Salaam region as of 15 May 2026 (s4). Organised building is dominated by state bodies building for sale: the National Housing Corporation and the NSSF pension fund. Mortgage finance is thin. Banks backed by the Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company had lent TZS 720.81bn to 5,802 borrowers nationwide by 15 May 2026, 31% of it by CRDB Bank (s4). No builder league table exists; the figures below come from each builder's own statements and the Minister's budget speech.
| Name | Type | Units |
|---|---|---|
| National Housing Corporation (NHC) Daily News (May 2025): NHC 'has constructed a total of 5,399 houses valued at 659.48bn/- for sale and rent' under the current government, 3,217 complete; 560 Samia Housing Scheme houses 'built and sold in Kawe, Dar es Salaam' (s17). 2026/27 speech: Kawe 711 (422 units, TZS 169bn) 85% complete; Golden Premier Residence (196 units, TZS 127bn) 50%; 260 houses at Mtoni Kijichi 30% (s4). |
Government | 5,399 houses (3,217 complete), national, under the current (Sixth Phase) government to May 2025; Kawe 711: 422; Samia Housing Scheme Kawe: 560 soldA |
| National Social Security Fund (NSSF) NSSF's project pages: Mtoni Kijichi phase I (85 units, 2011) and phase II (212 units, 2013) were sold outright or by hire purchase; phase III has 820 units, 417 handed over (s19). Dungu Farm and Toangoma: 600 units, 95 of 439 at Dungu and 76 of 161 at Toangoma completed (s20). The pages carry no dates for their status figures. |
Pension fund | Mtoni Kijichi: 85 + 212 sold, 820 in phase III (417 handed over); Dungu Farm and Toangoma: 600 (171 complete)A |
6
Commercial landlords
The commercial side, counted separately from housing: who holds the office, retail and industrial floor area.
Dar es Salaam's office and retail stock is owned mostly by public money: the two state pension funds (NSSF and PSSSF), the National Housing Corporation and state agencies with their own towers. The one large foreign-owned commercial landlord with a published filing is Turnstar Holdings of Botswana, through Mlimani City. Turnstar's own report says that moving government offices to Dodoma left a 'significant over supply' of Dar es Salaam offices.
| Name | Type | Holdings |
|---|---|---|
| National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Audited statement of net assets (s14). Its Dar es Salaam commercial assets include Mzizima Towers: a TZS 322.02bn, 95,018 m² office, retail, hotel and residential complex, 91% complete in Mar 2026 (s7). NSSF's head office address is Benjamin Mkapa Pension Towers, Azikiwe St (s19). |
Pension fund | Investment properties TZS 1,048.6bn (30 Jun 2025, all Tanzania)A |
| Turnstar Holdings Limited (via Mlimani Holdings Limited) Annual report 2022: investment property 'registered in the name of Mlimani Holdings Limited', 99.99% held through Island View (Pty) Ltd (s15). The mall was 100% let and the office park 38% let; Turnstar's page reports a 65% office vacancy rate for a reporting period (s16). |
Public company | Mlimani City: fair value BWP 1,034.6M (31 Jan 2022); 29,500 m² mall + 15,000 m² offices + 5,000 m² conference centreA |
| National Housing Corporation (NHC) Morocco Square's commercial and office space was leased after completion; the TZS 137bn project is NHC's (s17). NHC also oversees 21 joint-venture projects worth TZS 351bn and is building Uhuru Shopping Centre in Ilala (s4, s17). |
Government | Morocco Square: 47,793 m² offices + 28,827 m² commercial + 8,456 m² hotel, all leased (May 2025)A |
| Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) Self-described developer and owner of the twin towers on Mission Street, Posta (s5); the portfolio page lists further commercial, hotel and parking properties (s6). |
Pension fund | PSSSF Twin Tower (35 floors) and other properties; no floor area publishedA |
?
Looked for and not found
Claims this page would have made if a source could be opened. They are left out rather than guessed.
- The ground under Mlimani City is reported to be University of Dar es Salaam land held by the developer on a long lease (search snippets mention about 40 ha and a 50-year lease from 2004), and a 2011/2012 sale to Turnstar for about US$77 million. Turnstar's own report confirms only that the property is registered to its subsidiary Mlimani Holdings Limited and that it is in litigation, so no lease term, lessor or price is recorded.
- Hyatt Regency Dar es Salaam, The Kilimanjaro: Hyatt's 2011 release, as summarised by search, says ASB Tanzania Ltd., a subsidiary of Albwardy Investments, owns the hotel, which the government built in 1965 and sold in 2002. Not opened, because Hyatt's terms host blocked us (see automationBlocked), so no owner is recorded.
- Tanzania Ports Authority Tower (157 m, 40 floors, Mchafukoge) and Bank of Tanzania Towers 1–2: the names suggest the agency owners, but no owning document was opened.
- PPF Towers 2 (160 m, the tallest on Wikipedia's list) and MNF Square 1–2 (145 m): owners not established. PPF was a pension fund now folded into PSSSF, but no PSSSF page lists these towers.
- Container Terminal 2 at Dar es Salaam port is reported under a separate 30-year concession to Adani Ports; not verified on an Adani or TPA page.
- The Benjamin Mkapa Stadium owner is attributed from government-funded, ministry-run renovations, not from a document that names the owner.
- No official title-search fee was found. Section 97 of Cap. 334 makes searches available to 'any person', and the fee is set by the Land Registration rules, whose current schedule is not posted on lands.go.tz (the 'Ada' menu item is an empty link).
- NSSF's 30 June 2025 statement shows 'Service concession assets' of TZS 149.9bn. NSSF's website lists the Nyerere (Kigamboni) Bridge under Investments, but the statement line does not name the asset, so the two are not linked here.
§
Sources
- Huduma Zetu — Uthamini (Valuation services) — Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development (Wizara ya Ardhi, Nyumba na Maendeleo ya Makazi) · openA
- Huduma Zetu — Usajili wa Hati (Registration of titles) — Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development · openA
- The Land Registration Act, Cap. 334 (consolidated text, ss. 97–98 Searches and Copies) — Ministry of Lands (hosted PDF) · openA
- Hotuba ya Waziri wa Ardhi — Makadirio ya Mapato na Matumizi ya Wizara 2026/27 (Minister's budget speech to Parliament) — Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development · openA
- Real Estate — PSSSF Twin Tower (Posta, Ilala) — Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) · openA
- Investments — Real Estate (portfolio list) — Public Service Social Security Fund (PSSSF) · openA
- Tanzania sees good progress in the construction of the 322bn/- Mzizima Towers — Daily News (Tanzania Standard Newspapers) · openA
- Dar es Salaam Port — Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) · openA
- About us — Overview — Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA) · openA
- DP World signs 30-year concession to operate multi-purpose Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania — DP World · openA
- DP World Dar es Salaam — Infrastructure — DP World · openA
- Dira, Dhima, Maadili Mkuu na Majukumu (Vision, mission and functions) — Tanzania Airports Authority (Mamlaka ya Viwanja vya Ndege Tanzania, TAA) · openA
- List of tallest buildings in Tanzania — Wikipedia · openB
- Statement of Net Assets Available for Benefits as at 30 June 2025 (audited, CAG ref AR/PA/NSSF/2024/25) — National Social Security Fund (NSSF) · openA
- Turnstar Holdings Limited — Annual Report 2022 (consolidated and separate annual financial statements, year ended 31 January 2022) — Turnstar Holdings Limited (Botswana Stock Exchange-listed) · openA
- Mlimani City Mall — Turnstar Holdings Limited · openA
- NHC completes Morocco square, revive projects — Daily News (Tanzania Standard Newspapers) · openA
- Home — NHC projects (Morocco Square Mall, Samia Housing Scheme Kawe, Kawe 711) — National Housing Corporation (Shirika la Nyumba la Taifa, NHC) · openA
- Mtoni Kijichi (housing project) — National Social Security Fund (NSSF) · openA
- Dungu Farm and Toangoma (housing project) — National Social Security Fund (NSSF) · openA
- Mkapa Stadium: Facelift gathers pace — Daily News (Tanzania Standard Newspapers) · openA
- Benjamin Mkapa Stadium upgrade: A crucial step toward AFCON 2027 success — Daily News (Tanzania Standard Newspapers) · openA
- Spatial Pattern of Residential Land Prices in Dar Es Salaam City, Tanzania — Journal of African Real Estate Research 10(2), 40–53 (doi:10.15641/jarer.v10i2.1631) — Journal of African Real Estate Research (hosted by University of Cape Town Libraries) · openA