The South Sudan Government has begun construction of a logistics hub at the Mai Mahiu Special Economic Zone to improve cargo handling between the Port of Mombasa and Juba.
The hub is being built on land allocated within the 6,000-acre zone and will serve as an alternative cargo clearance centre for growing import and export volumes.
Officials said the project will help ease congestion at the Port of Mombasa, where cargo handling is projected to increase from the current 15 million metric tonnes annually to 40 million metric tonnes over the next five years.
Cabinet Secretary for Public Service and Human Capital Development Geoffrey Ruku said the Kenyan government will fully support operations at the zones to boost regional trade and noted the expansion of the Standard Gauge Railway from Naivasha to Malaba and the dualling of the Rironi-Mau Summit to the Malaba border road.
SEZ Authority CEO Dr Kenneth Chelule said Kenya allocated a free 10-acre parcel to regional partners including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan to establish logistics hubs, and that the zone has attracted 24 investors with major operations expected within two years, creating hundreds of jobs; South Sudan is the first country to break ground.
Chelule added that investment incentives include corporate tax of around 10 per cent for the first ten years, 15 per cent for the next ten years and 30 per cent thereafter, and that the authority has received KSh600 million from the exchequer to fund water, power and link-road infrastructure.
He said the zone will also host housing units, commercial centres, schools and health centres, projects that are expected to generate tens of thousands of jobs for youths and locals.
Paul Dhel Gum, Undersecretary for Transport in South Sudan, said the government is seeking extra land within the Mombasa and Malaba SEZs to further ease cargo handling and remove barriers to the movement of goods to and from Juba, describing the hub as a key economic gateway that will benefit traders.
South Sudan ambassador to Kenya Simon Deng said the hub is slated to become operational by 2028 and will ensure timely and seamless movement of goods, act as an alternative dry port and support an affordable, predictable transport system that deepens regional trade.
Dr John Diir, Executive Director for Northern Corridor, said feasibility studies indicate huge growth potential in cargo transport and that establishing such zones will alleviate pressure on the Port of Mombasa, reiterating the forecast of cargo handling rising to 40 million metric tonnes.
Rwanda’s Minister for Trade and Foreign Affairs Dr Usta Kayitesi praised Kenya’s donation to the logistics hub, noting it will shorten distances and facilitate trade from the Port of Mombasa through the SEZ to Rwanda directly.
