Mombasa is slowly being killed as a business hub, a businessman and activist has said.
Peterside Otieno, an entrepreneur who has interests in the logistics industry, on Friday said traders from the Democratic Republic of Congo are being lured to the port of Dar es Salaam from Mombasa port despite the latter being more efficient and modern.
“I have concerns that the national government is aware of but they have ignored the fate of Mombasa because. Mombasa is being killed both by the national government and local leaders around who have ignored it,” Otieno said at a press conference at the Habo Plaza.
“A single unit (of cargo) at the Port of Mombasa is being cleared at a cost of $600 (approximately Sh78,379). A similar unit at the port of Dar es Salaam or Tanga is being cleared at a figure of around $250 (approximately Sh32,658).”
He said Congolese businessmen have fled from Mombasa and now clear their cargo at the port of Dar es Salaam.
“And this started in around 2022. Importers from DRC cannot be conditioned to import through the Mombasa port. Those we can condition are Ugandan and South Sudanese importers,” he said.
He said Ugandan importers now exploit the Kagera border between Uganda and Tanzania, and they are starting to bring their cargo also through Dar es Salaam despite the Mombasa port being bigger, more efficient and more technologically advanced.
“The port of Mombasa is going to remain a shell,” Otieno said.
This is happening at the expense of the local residents of Mombasa because drivers, food vendors, truck owners and other small businessmen in the supply chains subsequently lose their jobs.
“And the government is just quiet over this. Nobody is talking about it."
In May last year, Tanzania offered an exclusive transit clearance for DRC-bound cargo, signalling increased competition with Kenya for the lucrative market.
At Kwala dry port, there is 10-hectare area allocated for handling DRC cargo passing through Dar es Salaam.
Dar es Salaam port handled about three million tonnes of DRC transit cargo, according to the Tanzania Port Authority.
However, Kenya Ports Authority managing director William Ruto says efficiency at the Mombasa port means there are no ships waiting for discharge thus beating the Port of Dar es Salaam, which in late 2023 had to suspend the bagging of loose cargo inside the port to reduce the number of waiting ships causing congestion in the facility.
Ruto said there was no way the neighbouring port could beat the Mombasa port.
In March, while receiving the Ignazio Messina line, MV Jolly Gaida, Ruto said the Mombasa port’s efficiency was attracting more business even from the DRC.
“Of the containers discharged from the ship, more than 35 per cent belong to other ports, mainly Dar es Salaam. The port of Mombasa is acting as a transshipment hub for the Messina line and all their cargo heading to Dar es Salaam will be trans-shipped from this port. This is building us an excellent business and we thank them for building confidence in us as a port,” he said.
On Friday, Otieno said the Mombasa port’s berth 23 construction is set to be commissioned.
He said it was strange that the government planned to expand the port while at the same to scaring investors away through exorbitant charges.
He said the plan to extend the standard gauge railway line from Naivasha to Malaba would ruin business for Mombasa even further because all cargo from the port will be transported through the SGR.
This, in turn, will kill container freight stations in Mombasa.
“All CFSs will be relocated to Malaba because there will be little or no business in Mombasa anymore,” Otieno said.
He said when that happens the only hope for Mombasa will be the importation of vehicles destined for Uganda and Rwanda.
“The leaders know this but nobody is questioning anything. We are questioning the government. Are they really for the interests of the residents of Mombasa or they just want the port city of Mombasa to remain a shell?” he said.
He said the government must rethink the expansion of the port, the extension of the SGR to Malaba and the high cost of clearing cargo at the Mombasa port.