Browsing: Mombasa Port

An overpass road construction of a section of the Nairobi Expressway Project along Mombasa road is complete. The Nairobi Expressway is expected to ease traffic congestion in the Kenyan capital. www.theexchange.africa

East Africa: The hub for African trade

Industry and Trade
For years, the East African Community (EAC) struggled with divisions among member states mainly on key trade agreements slowing down the region from achieving a full working common market.
Countries have been playing protectionism targeted mainly at protecting local industries, with fallouts witnessed among states.
Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have had their fair share of the trade wars with both tariff and non-tariff barriers affecting regional integration.
Poor infrastructure in some parts of the region has also been affecting easy movement of trade volumes while businesses have suffered lack of enough capital to do trade.
However, recent developments have set the region for growth both on intra-EAC trade, continental trade and of course international trade.
Over the course of 2022, there has been progress on the East African Community’s Common External Tariffs (CETs) which had dragged since 2016.This exposed the region to cheaper imports mainly from China and India, making
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lamu port

Kenya’s Lamu Port, AfCFTA and China’s BRI

Africa's Development

At the time of this plan, Mombasa was becoming increasingly strained as business volumes and demand rose. The project was however halted for close to 30 years due to various factors including among them exorbitant projected costs. 

In 2012, Kenya’s then-President Mwai Kibaki hosted Ethiopia’s then Prime Minister and a South Sudanese delegation when the port’s foundation stone was laid. The three countries agreed to fund the project from their respective national budgets. Each country would finance their part till the completion of what was now known as the Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor.…

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Kenya, Tanzania: ongoing supremacy battle for the ultimate port 

Kenya, Tanzania: ongoing supremacy battle for the ultimate port 

Investing

Kenya and Tanzania have always seen each other as competitors when it comes to megaprojects that have a regional reach. The competition has risen from years ago with each duplicating its partner’s efforts and laying out schemes to win other members of the East African region and beyond.  

However, if there is any project that has been the hallmark of this competition, then it is the development of sea ports, with Kenya investing heavily in both Lamu and Mombasa ports while Tanzania is boosting its Dar es Salaam port and planning on growing both Bagamoyo and Tanga ports. Each country has an eye on the larger eastern African region as local commerce cannot sustain the projects. 

Ports are gateways for 80% of global merchandise trade by volume and 70% by value. This is a point both the East African countries have taken keenly

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Ship carrying cargo at the Port of Mombasa- The Exchange

Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will not kill road transport

East Africa

The use of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to transport cargo between Mombasa and Nairobi will not kill the road transport, Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia has said.

Speaking at the recently concluded Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) stakeholders’ luncheon, Mr Macharia noted that the implementation of the Standard Gauge Railway has continued to improve the transportation of cargo and passengers between Mombasa and Nairobi.

“It is important to note that even as we encourage use of the SGR, at full capacity it can only move 40 per cent of the total traffic passing through the port of Mombasa, leaving the remaining 60 per cent to be transported by road. Therefore, contrary to the concerns raised by some stakeholders, the SGR will not kill road transport but merely supplement it so as to facilitate the seamless movement of goods and people,” he noted.

According to KPA Chairman Mr Joseph Kibwana, the …