Ports & Logistics
More actions
| Ports & Logistics | |
|---|---|
| Theme | |
| Pillar | Economic Development |
Ports & Logistics (Kiswahili: Bandari na usafirishaji) is a theme of the Economic Development pillar. It covers the Port of Mombasa, Lamu Port and the smaller harbours, the railways, pipeline and roads that carry cargo inland, and the clearing, trucking and storage businesses around them. The Port of Mombasa handled 45.59 million tonnes of cargo in 2025, up 11.2 per cent, including 2.11 million twenty-foot containers (TEUs).[1] Lamu Port, opened in 2021, handled 799,161 tonnes in 2025, up from 74,380 tonnes in 2024.[2]
What this page is for
This is the shared page for ports, freight and logistics on the coast: please add the projects, organisations, data and stakeholder views you know about, with a source for each.
Ports and logistics on the coast today
Mombasa is a regional gateway as much as a national one. In 2025 imports through the port rose by 20.1 per cent to 36.0 million tonnes and exports reached 5.07 million tonnes, while 1,955 ships docked.[1] Transit cargo for neighbouring countries grew by 19.5 per cent to 15.88 million tonnes, and Uganda accounted for 68.7 per cent of it.[3] Trans-shipment fell by 28.1 per cent to 4.2 million tonnes, which the survey attributes partly to some trans-shipment moving to Lamu.[1]
The Standard Gauge Railway carried 7.33 million tonnes of freight in 2025, up 12.3 per cent, earning KES 16.6 billion, while the older metre gauge railway carried 1.08 million tonnes.[4] The products pipeline moved 9.19 million cubic metres of white petroleum products.[5] Container freight stations at Mombasa handled 183,734 TEUs in 2025, up 7.9 per cent.[6]
Lamu Port began operating on 20 May 2021 and had received 143 vessels by March 2026, 43 of them in the first three months of that year.[7] The port was largely underused in its first three years; the 2026 rise came partly from car carriers and container lines diverting Gulf-bound cargo during the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.[2] Its deep berths can take larger ships than Mombasa's turning space allows, according to The Star.[7]
Smaller harbours matter locally. Kilifi reports exporting 15,000 goats and sheep to Oman and the Middle East through Ngomeni,[8] and Kwale lists the expansion of Shimoni port among the projects driving rapid development in the county, alongside the Dongo Kundu economic zone.[9]
Plans and policy
Lamu Port is part of the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor, a Kenya Vision 2030 programme that also includes highways, a railway, a crude oil pipeline, airports, resort cities and special economic zones.[10] Lamu's plan notes that the National Spatial Plan expects the county to grow into an urban conurbation around the seaport, and commits to linking the Northern and LAPSSET corridors by road and rail.[11]
The national government is reforming how the ports are run. The Kenya Ports Authority is to become a public limited company under the Government Owned Enterprises Act, with the National Treasury as main shareholder, and is pursuing a "landlord" model in which private operators lease specific functions.[12] It is selecting private operators for Lamu's berths 1 to 3.[2]
Mombasa's CIDP sets two port aims for the county: to secure a corporate stake for Mombasa in the port, and to bring clearing and forwarding services back to the county.[13] Regionally, the Jumuiya ya Kaunti za Pwani works on promoting the coast to investors and unlocking value chains.[14]
Who is involved
The Kenya Ports Authority owns and operates Mombasa and Lamu ports and supplies their traffic data, Kenya Railways runs both railways, and Kenya Pipeline Company runs the products pipeline.[1][4][5] The LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority coordinates the wider corridor.[10] Shipping lines and agents such as Grimaldi and Hapag-Lloyd have begun calling at Lamu,[2] and the Mediterranean Shipping Company was chosen to run Mombasa's second container terminal.[15] On the coast side, the Dock Workers Union represents port labour,[15] container freight stations, clearing agents and transporters handle cargo beyond the quay,[6] and the county governments plan around the ports.[13] The Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa and the Transportation, Industry and Blue Economy themes overlap with this one, as does the Relocation of Container Operations to Lamu Port project.
Open questions
Who should run the berths? The Kenya Ports Authority's managing director, Captain William Ruto, says the government keeps ownership of port land and infrastructure and only leases operations.[12] The Taireni Association of Mijikenda went to court arguing that berths built with public money could not be handed to private investors; a 2024 consent order let the process continue on condition of public participation and local content.[12] The Dock Workers Union's Simon Sang has said the union wants public participation before any deal and has opposed moving port operations inland.[15]
Where should cargo be cleared? On taking office in September 2022, President Ruto ordered cargo clearance to revert to Mombasa, undoing the arrangement that had moved it to the inland depots at Nairobi and Naivasha. He reversed the order in December 2022 after South Sudan objected and threatened to shift to the Djibouti route.[16] Mombasa County still lists bringing clearing and forwarding back to the county as a goal.[13]
Can Lamu keep its new traffic? The Kenya Ports Authority says regular services promise "more cargo volumes" in future years, but The Maritime Executive notes that much of the 2026 surge came from Gulf diversions.[2] The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has also asked Kenya to finish environmental and heritage impact assessments of LAPSSET because of its effects on Lamu Old Town (see Tourism).[17]
Coverage the plan expects
- Port of Mombasa capacity
- Lamu Port and LAPSSET
- standard gauge railway freight
- trucking and container depots
- port governance and private operators
- where cargo is cleared and port jobs
Projects
A project page joins this theme by naming it as the theme in its infobox. To start one:
Sources
- Economic Survey 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2026 (chapter 13, transport)
- LAPSSET Corridor Program, LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority
- Mombasa CIDP 2023-2027, County Government of Mombasa, 2023
- Lamu CIDP 2023-2027, County Government of Lamu, 2023
- Lamu Port's cargo throughput jumps by 900% buoyed by shipping disruption, The Maritime Executive, 2026
- Mombasa port not for sale, KPA boss says, The Standard, 2026
- Decision 47 COM 7B.156: Lamu Old Town, UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2025
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Economic Survey 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2026, pages 307 to 308 (Table 13.8).
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Lamu Port's cargo throughput jumps by 900% buoyed by shipping disruption, The Maritime Executive, 22 March 2026.
- ↑ Economic Survey 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2026, pages 308 to 309 (Table 13.9).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Economic Survey 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2026, page 306 (Tables 13.7a and 13.7b).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Economic Survey 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2026, page 309.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Economic Survey 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, 2026, page 318 (Table 13.18).
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lamu Port receives 43 vessels in three months, Charles Mghenyi, The Star, 13 March 2026.
- ↑ Kilifi County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Kilifi, 2023, page 27.
- ↑ Kwale County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Kwale, 2023, page 61.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 LAPSSET Corridor Program, LAPSSET Corridor Development Authority, accessed 18 October 2026.
- ↑ Lamu County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Lamu, 2023, pages 36 and 41.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Mombasa port not for sale, KPA boss says as govt eyes private investment, David Njaaga, The Standard, 13 March 2026.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Third County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Mombasa, 2023, page 205.
- ↑ Tana River County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027, County Government of Tana River, 2023, page 1.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 Dock workers want all port deals shelved until after poll, Anthony Kitimo, Business Daily, 4 July 2022.
- ↑ South Sudan pushes Ruto to use Joho firm in SGR contract, Dominic Omondi, Business Daily, 20 December 2022.
- ↑ Decision 47 COM 7B.156: Lamu Old Town (Kenya), UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2025.