Inside KPA’s Sh64B plan in attaining Big Four plan

The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is hopeful to grow its revenue to over Sh64billion in five years, as part of its strategic plan to give port of Mombasa a new facelift in achieving the Big four agenda.

The implementation of the five-year strategic blueprint under the vision 2030 will cost an estimated Sh1billion yearly, with the authority confident upon its completion, the move will propel the anchorage to a world class status.

Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said Friday during the plan’s launch that the ongoing development projects at the port of Mombasa as well as other ports allocated for development in the coastline and inland waterways will boost the plans by the government in attaining the Big four agenda, namely; affordable housing, food security, universal healthcare for all and manufacturing.

Key among the projects include the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway connecting the Inland Container Depot Nairobi (ICDN) with the Port, with over 190,000 TEUs having been moved to the ICD via the railtainer, greatly increasing the port’s fluidity. The port has also completed the second phase of the SGR within the Port which has facilitated movement of bulk and loose cargo to the ICD. 

The port further plans to invest in acquisition of more land in Nairobi and its environs, to construct Inland Container Depots that can hold up to a million containers as a move to reduce congestion at the port of Mombasa,.

Latest figures released last week show that the Port of Mombasa experienced a 9.8 percent container traffic growth, registering 1,306,283 TEUs between January and December last year compared to 1,189, 957 TEUs handled in the same period in 2017.

During the period the port registered a growth of 38,616 (twenty-foot equivalent unit) TEUs after 119,819 TEUs were handled in 2018 compared to the 81,203 TEUs handled in the previous year.

The Port recorded 1.4 percent growth in total cargo last year, while the total cargo volume through the Port of Mombasa grew to 30,759,854 tons between January and December 2018 compared to 30,344,370 tons recorded in the corresponding period in 2017 which translates to an increment of 415,484 tons.

Dry bulk goods which include grains, clinker, fertilizer and coal recorded a slight growth of 0.2 percent.

However, Liquid Bulk and Conventional cargo declined from 8,259,365 to 7,799,810 deadweight tonnage (DWT) and from 2,135,656 tons to 1,814,969 respectively.

The drop in Liquid Bulk was mainly attributed to a decline in the importation of refined petroleum products and vegetable oils. Similarly, the decline in conventional cargo was attributed to the decrease in importation of vehicles and Iron and Steel products during the year under review.