Mombasa port shows growth, high efficiency

Shipping activity at port of Mombasa, East Africa's biggest, rose by 11 per cent in the first half of 2015 as vessel wait times fell, the national ports authority has said. Kenya Ports Authority Managing Director Gichiri Ndua said the performance reflected progress in the integration of East African countries to ease the flow of trade.

The port, a major trade gateway to East Africa, handles imports such as fuel for Uganda, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Kenya, which faces increasing competition from other countries like Tanzania and Djibouti in the bid to serve land-locked and rapidly-growing neighbours, said increasing port efficiency is central to its infrastructure plan.

 In the first half of this year, the port handled 13.21 million tonnes of goods, 1.3 million tonnes more than in the same period a year ago, Ndua said. Last year, it handled 24.9 million tonnes of cargo - the highest volume in the port's history and an 11.5 per cent increase from 2013, he said