The Public Private Partnership unit of the National Treasury gave its second approval to a feasibility study in August 2026, allowing Kenya Ports Authority to launch tender processes for assets at the Mombasa and Lamu ports.
The study authorises the first phase of a concession programme that includes four facilities: berths 11-14 at Mombasa port, container terminal 1 at Mombasa, berths 1-3 of the Lamu container terminal and the Lamu Special Economic Zone. Maritime & Transport Business Solutions is acting as the transaction adviser for these concessions.
The Treasury has classified the concession plan as a priority PPP project under Kenya’s fourth medium-term development plan. In April 2026 it also opened a new portfolio of seven additional port-linked facilities for PPP investment, comprising two new container terminal sections at Mombasa (berths 20-22 and 23-24), several cargo terminal sections, and inland container depots at Nairobi (Embakasi) and Naivasha.
“These assets are operationally interconnected and may share common infrastructure and interfaces, including yards, access channels, terminal support facilities, and landside logistics systems,” the Treasury said in a disclosure. It added that “decisions taken in relation to one asset have material implications for the performance, efficiency, and bankability of the other assets within the portfolio.”
The Treasury explained that the original four assets – Lamu container terminal berths 1-3, Mombasa berths 11-14, Mombasa container terminal I (berths 16-19) and the Lamu Special Economic Zone – were listed together because “given the scale of the assets, their shared demand drivers, and the strategic objective of transitioning to a landlord port model, it is necessary that these assets are assessed and structured under the PPP framework on a portfolio basis, rather than through fragmented, asset-by-asset transactions.”
In March 2026, KPA began searching for an investor to operate the Shimoni fish port under a landlord-model PPP, a step that could free up parts of the Mombasa and Lamu operations. KPA noted that “in 2018, a feasibility study was undertaken for Shimoni fish port, which recommended development and operations of the port under the PPP landlord model. In view of this, construction of the port commenced in October 2022 and was completed in June 2025,” and described Shimoni Port as “one of the projects identified under the Kenya Vision 2030 to support the exploitation of the blue economy resources for accelerated socio-economic development.”
