Mombasa port expansion to begin this month

Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) will start a Sh10 billion expansion of the Mombasa port later this month, Business Daily has reported.

Citing the KPA managing director Mr Gichiri Ndua, the newspaper reported that after a long wait, the port of Mombasa will be dredged of mud and silt to accommodate bigger vessels.

Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Mr Ndua said KPA was playing catch-up having lost some business to the Dar es Salaam port – a large natural port in Tanzania.

Mr Ndua said the dredging would commence this month and be completed in 18 months. “The construction of an new cargo berth Number 19 will start at the same time,” Mr Ndua said adding that two projects were expected to address the perennial problem of congestion.

The Mombasa port expansion project is funded by the Kenyan government to the tune of Sh10 billion – with dredging taking about Sh5.2 billion.