This archive report was first published on 21 September 2019.
Published on September 21, 2019, official data from the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) revealed a sharp decline in transit cargo destined to Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Burundi in the first seven months of the year.
Goods on transit to Tanzania from Mombasa dropped by 9.4 percent to 141,000 tonnes in seven months to July this year, with tonnage expected to drop further due to increased usage of the $345 million World Bank-funded Dar es Salaam Maritime Gateway Project (DSMGP).
Notably, Ethiopia, a key player in the Lamu Port South Sudan Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor project, did not use the Kenyan port of Mombasa in the seven months to July, despite the upcoming unveiling of the Lamu ports' first berth.
According to KPA data, transit goods to Ethiopia dropped to zero from 1,000 tonnes, which could be attributed to Ethiopia's investment in two of Djibouti's ports and its usage of Somaliland's ports.
Burundi, another client of the Dar port, is also dumping Mombasa, with cargo volumes in the seven months dropping by more than 90 percent compared to the volumes traded over a similar period last year.
Imports to Burundi through Kenya plummeted to 1,000 tonnes compared to a total 21,000 tonnes during the same period last year.
However, partly helped by friendly relations and continued investments in the Northern Corridor infrastructural development, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo remained bright spots for the Mombasa port.
Uganda remained Mombasa port's biggest client, with more than 4.66 million tonnes of goods imported in the seven months to July this year, a marginal growth from 4.6 million last year.
Goods destined to the Democratic Republic of Congo jumped by 19.3 percent from 269,000 tonnes last year to 321,000 tonnes this year.
More than 141,000 tonnes of cargo were transported to Rwanda this year compared to 121,000 tonnes through the port of Mombasa, while transit cargo to South Sudan jumped from 409,000 tonnes last year to 451,000 tonnes in 2019.
The average cost of transporting a forty-foot container from Mombasa to Nairobi has dropped to Ksh102,360 ($1,000) last year from a high of Ksh133,598 ($1,300) in 2011, while that from Mombasa to Kampala came down to Ksh256,920 ($2,500) from Ksh349,411 ($3,400) over the same period.
Kenya's diplomatic tiff with Somalia has negatively impacted the two countries' trade, with latest data showing that Mogadishu is no longer importing any cargo through Mombasa.
The sharp drop could also be attributed to the entry of Danish shipping line services Maersk, which began operating in Somalia's Mogadishu port in early January.
