Mombasa port maintains grip as key hub for Uganda

A section of containers at the Port of Mombasa. March 3, 2025. [Omondi Onyango]

The Port of Mombasa has maintained Uganda as its leading transit market despite competition from the nearby Dar es Salaam Port in Tanzania.

Last year, Ugandan cargo accounted for 65.7 per cent of Mombasa's transit market. Data from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) shows Mombasa processed 8.81 million tonnes of Ugandan cargo.

However, it represents a decline from the 70 per cent share of the port's transit market that Uganda held in the previous year. This decrease is attributed to the increasing volume of cargo originating from South Sudan, as well as heightened competition from the Port of Dar es Salaam.

Kenya's Deputy Head of Mission at the High Commission in Uganda Suleiman Roba, stated that Uganda will continue to be the largest transit market for the port, owing to the effective strategies implemented by the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA).

Suleiman, who represented the High Commissioner, made the remarks when he received the KPA board, led by Chairman Benjamin Tayari.

The board is on a mission to articulate performance traffic trends, market dynamics, and business promotion interventions adopted for the transit market. He pledged support for the Authority's efforts to enhance performance at the Port of Mombasa as the gateway into the region.

He was responding to the request by KPA for collaboration in promoting port services and building investor confidence, especially at the upcoming Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone.

Mr Tayari noted that the board was upbeat about the ongoing infrastructural developments, including the upgrading of the terminal operating system, equipment acquisition, expansion of berth 19B, the improved Kisumu Port, and other cargo handling facilities in line with the Corporate Strategic Plan.

Earlier, the board of directors visited the Kampala liaison office at Crested Towers, where they commended staff for doing a good job.

The office commenced operations in 1996 to provide port services closer to the Ugandan market and was officially inaugurated in April 2004.