The Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) is expanding and digitising the Port of Mombasa to cope with rising cargo demand, after the port handled a record 45.45 million metric tonnes in 2025, a 10 per cent increase on 2024.
Container traffic grew to 2.11 million twenty-foot equivalent units in 2025, up 5.5 per cent from the previous year, while transit cargo rose to 15.88 million metric tonnes, an increase of 19.5 per cent.
KPA is constructing berth 19B at a cost of KSh19 billion; the 240-metre berth will have a 15-metre draft, accommodate vessels up to 45,000 deadweight tonnes and is expected to add 300,000 TEUs of capacity. “The progress is going very well. We are extending the berth and also creating additional capacity of 300,000 TEUs. At the moment, the progress is around 56 per cent, and we are on course,” said William Ruto, KPA CEO.
In July, KPA launched a KSh1 billion Vessel Traffic Management and Information System (VTMIS) that links a control tower, the Ras Serani Signal Station and the Shimanzi Oil Terminal Radar Site to provide real-time tracking, radar surveillance, communications, meteorological monitoring, oil-spill detection and digital port-management functions. The system is part of a wider marine investment that includes a new search-and-rescue helicopter and three tugboats valued at roughly KSh1.5-1.6 billion.
The authority has also completed a smart gate at Gate 24 to reduce manual handling and speed cargo movement. “That smart gate initiative is what we learned from other ports, in terms of how to automate our ports and lessen the manual interfaces that we have always been doing,” stated Ruto.
Within the Mombasa Special Economic Zone at Dongo Kundu, KPA is delivering a KSh41.1 billion port component that will build seven berths and yards across 1,300 acres of the 3,000-acre zone. Construction of the first 300-metre multi-purpose berth began in October 2025 and is slated for completion in December 2028; progress is around 23 per cent overall and 50 per cent for the yard, Ruto said.
A further KSh8.3 billion infrastructure project is under way to improve cargo movement, safety and connectivity between the port, Gates 18 and 20, Kipevu Road and the Northern Corridor. “That roadwork infrastructure project is currently at 58 per cent, and we are on course. We expect to complete it by mid-next year,” said Ruto.
Ruto added that KPA is training staff and acquiring additional cargo-handling equipment, with more units expected before the Christmas season to support the surge in volumes.
