The Port of Mombasa is the gateway to East and Central Africa,and is one of the busiest Ports along the East African coastline. The Port provides direct connectivity to over 80 Ports worldwide and is linked to a vast hinterland comprising Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, Northern Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Somalia and Ethiopia by road. Muhamad J. Jezan who heads the KPA Liaison Office in Kampala gives some insights into their operations. 
Six states in Eastern Africa are implementing a common market protocol, providing for free movement of goods and services. What is the role being played by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in facilitating trade in the EAC?
The basic role played by the Port Authority is connecting the hinterland to the overseas market. We offer economies of scale to move bigger volumes of cargo at lower costs with optimal utilization of ICT innovations to create efficiency and provide an environment where all Partner Agencies interact to effectively clear cargo both in and out of the port to their final destinations.
What kind of infrastructure is in place at the Port of Mombasa to handle the growing volumes of trade along the Northern Corridor?
The Port of Mombasa as a multi-purpose port, has great infrastructure to handle the growing volumes along the Northern Corridor and this includes an excellent natural harbour with good shelter, a maximum draft of 15 metres and the capacity to handle approximately 23.7 million tonnes  of cargo per year.
It has 13 general cargo berths with a quay length of 2448 metres and four container berths with a quay length of about 840 metres that has a container holding capacity of 1,050,000 TEUs ( Twenty Foot Equivalent Units).
The recently commissioned the Mombasa Container Terminal referred to as CT2 will create an additional 1.5 million TEUs when completed. Phase 1 has been completed with construction of berth 20 and 21 with an additional capacity of 550,000 TEUs. In addition we have two oil jetties namely the Shimanzi and Kipevu oil jetties for handling of oil products.
What is the purpose of Inland Ports?
Inland Ports bring port services closer to shippers in the hinterland while decongesting Mombasa. They provide shippers with dry port facilities.
How is Mombasa performing in terms of cargo handling with in the region compared to the other ports in the East African Community (EAC)?
Mombasa is performing well, not only in the EAC, but in Africa as a whole. It has handled slightly over one million TEUs last year and handled a total of 26.73 million tonnes in 2015.
The Port of Mombasa is ranked position 112 globally  by Container Management 2015 and fifth in Africa after Durban, South Africa (1), Alexandria, Egypt (2), Port Said, Egypt (3) and Tangier Med, Morocco (4).
What measures have you put in place to improve service delivery and efficiency at Mombasa and other Kenyan ports?
Several measures have been put in place to improve service delivery and this includes capacity building of the port infrastructure, better utilization of ICT and improved automation of port operations.
There is also closer collaboration of cargo interveners and partner agencies, 24/7 port operations, equipment modernization and replacement, compliance to international maritime ,safety and quality conventions and standards, stakeholder and customer sensitizations’ and so on.
The five biggest challenges the container port industry is facing are better safety performance (loss of containers), greater operational complexity as a result of much bigger ships, managing congestion risk, staying profitable though shipping line economic cycles, and doing more with less space. What are you doing to address those challenges?
As the Port Authority, we are involved with better planning of operations, automated cargo documentation process and better sharing of information between partner agencies,
Cargo importers along the northern corridor have for long complained about the Container Freight Stations (CFS) located within the vicinity of the Mombasa port. What is KPA doing to ensure that they don’t become an impediment to trade?
We have Enforcement of Service Level Agreements (SLAs) in place and are involved with the implementation of the correct port tariffs and improvement of the road network.
Rwanda and Burundi are contemplating to quitting the Northern Corridor route complaining of excessive bureaucracy, corruption and delays on the route. As KPA, how are you handling their concerns?
We have established offices in both Rwanda and Burundi to serve them better and listen to their concerns.
As KPA we not only handle KPA related challenges, but also lobby other agencies to serve the region better. Challenges of NTBs along the corridor are addressed by respective Partner Agencies and we ensure that they are represented in our stakeholders’ forums where they give feedback on the relevant challenges raised.  But we have tried to remove most of the hurdles.
What are your future plans for Mombasa Port and other Kenyan ports in terms of cargo handling?
Our future plans are to ensure we maintain the Port of Mombasa and other ports as the Gateway to East and Central Africa. We want to realise our dream as the Port of Choice for our clientele.
We would like to see it as an efficient port with seamless connectivity to the world and to the hinterland served with road, rail and inland waterways which consequently lowers the cost of doing business, allowing business to grow and enriching lives.
Source: Business Week

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