The complete East African area is a way forward for a related Africa and world. However it all relies upon upon one logistically dominant nation within the area: Kenya. In the meantime, Kenya is busy discovering its steadiness between infrastructure and commerce originating from its neighbours.
On August 19, 2023, President of South Sudan Salva Kiir visited the Kenyan capital Nairobi and met his counterpart William Ruto on the State Home for bilateral talks. The latest assembly between the 2 presidents highlights a minimum of two vital details concerning the nation Kenya.
First, Kenya is a key nation from the logistics perspective for the landlocked nations together with South Sudan. As an example, all of the dialogue between the 2 leaders was dominated by regional commerce and the infrastructure that helps it. Second, Kenya and its landlocked neighbour need to diversify their commerce from the congested Port of Mombasa. Throughout their joint discuss, each leaders dedicated themselves to a selected infrastructural undertaking which isn’t solely essential for Kenya and South Sudan but additionally for Ethiopia: Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPSSET) Hall, additionally known as Lamu Hall, which makes Lamu Port the gateway to the world as a substitute of Mombasa.
Despite the fact that the Port of Mombasa is dealing with many congestion points as a result of import and export it helps from neighbouring international locations, and there are makes an attempt to maneuver cargo away from Mombasa, it nonetheless stays an important and busiest port within the East African area. The port dealt with 26.6 million tonnes of cargo within the first 9 months of 2023 from January to September in comparison with the 25.8 million tonnes dealt with in 2022, representing a 3 p.c enhance. Container visitors dealt with on the port was 1.2 million 20-foot equal models (TEUs) towards 1.1 million TEUs dealt with in the identical interval.
Thus, it’s not simply that the landlocked international locations are depending on Kenya and Mombasa, however the Kenyan economic system and its infrastructure rely upon commerce generated from these neighbours. Actually, the Port of Dar es Salaam is giving robust competitors to Mombasa by attracting extra cargo. For instance, in a latest growth, the political leaders of the Kisumu area within the western a part of Kenya acquired concerned when Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni determined to make the Port of Dar es Salaam as a substitute of Kenya its entry level for oil imports. As a result of the Port of Kisumu, located on the banks of Lake Victoria, which dealt with the oil for Uganda until now relies upon closely on the actions of oil merchandise and the latest determination can have adverse impacts on the financial panorama of this area.
“Kenya may evolve right into a regional manufacturing hub whereby uncooked commodity exports from different international locations within the area would make a stop-over for processing earlier than being exported.”
Udit Rathore, CEVA Logistics
Abiola Osho, affiliate vp, funding, Africa Finance Company (AFC), thinks that a few of the main challenges that Kenya has, much like what you discover in different international locations as nicely, are congestion and excessive value of transportation.
AFC is a Nigeria-based multilateral finance establishment targeted purely on infrastructure and the African continent, created and owned by African international locations.
“One of many issues that actually drives this excessive value of transport, is the truth that we do not produce sufficient. Africa exports extra uncooked supplies and imports extra completed merchandise. And once you try this, there’s usually a delta that goes together with your transportation prices. In international maritime, you pay for the freight once you export uncooked supplies. And once you import completed merchandise, you additionally pay for the journey,” he mentioned.
He added, “When you could have these elementary structural situations, it challenges your capacity to do commerce facilitation and create regional worth chains since you’re struggling to be cost-effective in your commerce.”
Lee I’Ons, president, Center East and Africa, Kuehne+Nagel, famous that Kenya is a crucial logistics hub for Kuehne+Nagel, “due to its strategic location and established air, sea, and street connections in Mombasa and Nairobi to the remainder of the area,” he mentioned.
Speaking concerning the enterprise panorama of the nation, he added, “Kenya is principally recognized for exporting perishables, particularly flowers (sea and air freight), and vegatables and fruits, akin to mangoes, beans, and avocados (air freight). The nation can be the world’s largest exporter of tea and one of many high exporters of espresso (sea freight).”
In the meantime, he made an fascinating statement concerning the East African nation that it has been a supply of innovation and expertise not just for his firm Kuehne+Nagel but additionally the logistics business.
“Africa has a historical past of quickly adapting and growing new applied sciences, and Kenya leads the way in which on this course of. Keys to the longer term would be the discount of inter-Africa commerce obstacles and the coaching and growth of logistics professionals,” he mentioned.
Thus Africa kinds a part of our Roadmap 2026 technique, the premise for his or her imaginative and prescient 2030.
He provides, “As such, we are going to put money into folks growth, serving to domesticate expertise, data, and experience, and nurture consumer relationships, fostering organisational progress throughout the continent, with Kenya being a key to East Africa.”
“Whereas Kenya boasts an enormous community of roads, widening many to twin carriage would profit trucking. Extending the Commonplace Gauge Railway (SGR) to Uganda would introduce time and cost-efficient transport between the 2 international locations.”
Lee I’Ons, Kuehne+Nagel
On the identical line, Udit Rathore, head of floor & rail, East Africa, CEVA Logistics, opined that the longer term remains to be vibrant in Kenya since there are quite a few alternatives for manufacturing actions, permitting the nation to shift from exporting uncooked commodities to processed merchandise.
“Kenya has a younger and well-educated inhabitants to embark on this trajectory. It may even evolve right into a regional manufacturing hub whereby uncooked commodity exports from different international locations within the area which are passing by means of Kenya’s hall would make a stop-over for processing earlier than being exported to international markets. Kenya’s logistics setting and its strategic place might be seen as a spine to this imaginative and prescient,” he mentioned.
“With enhanced manufacturing and processing capability, the logistics panorama may additionally blossom because the demand for warehousing, customs clearance and delivery would enhance,” he added.
As Kenya strikes ahead with a imaginative and prescient to develop its economic system by remodeling it into a producing and transport hub, it must collaborate with their neighbouring international locations and will attempt to discover the appropriate steadiness between commerce and politics. Kenya is an lively member of a number of organizations aiming at making a single buying and selling market throughout the area, such because the African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA) and the East African Neighborhood (EAC).
I’Ons noticed, “United, cross-border commerce business will facilitate improved effectivity of all parts of the logistics business. The expansion of the business will inevitably result in community enhancements. Whereas Kenya boasts an enormous community of roads, widening many to twin carriage would profit the trucking business. Extending the Commonplace Gauge Railway (SGR) to Uganda would introduce time and cost-efficient transport between the 2 international locations.”
Rathore additionally advocates for elevated collaboration significantly in terms of overcoming the challenges that Kenya faces from a logistics perspective.
He mentioned, “Securing the very best outcomes requires a constant method from the federal government and significant dialogue with key stakeholders. Additionally, one of many issues that will be useful to the business could possibly be authorities enhancements that might assist speed up the modernisation of an already stable logistics setting in Kenya would relate to introducing up-to-date know-how to automate the port of Mombasa. This could possibly be performed by studying from greatest international practices and adopting an answer that will be optimum for Mombasa Port.”
Thus the way forward for Kenya relies upon upon the high-quality steadiness it could must play by way of attracting cargo from the landlocked international locations with aggressive pricing whereas concurrently constructing the infrastructure to help it.
This function was initially printed within the Nov-Dec 2023 concern of Logistics Replace Africa
