Port of Mombasa

The Port of Mombasa is East Africa's principal port and the region's main gateway, on Kenya's Indian Ocean coast. Operated by the Kenya Ports Authority, it handles the great majority of Kenya's seaborne trade and, crucially, serves as the gateway for landlocked neighbours — Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and eastern DR Congo — whose imports and exports transit through Kenya along the Northern Corridor.

Cargo moves inland from Mombasa by road and by the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Nairobi and inland container depots. Because so much regional trade depends on it, Mombasa's capacity, efficiency and transit arrangements are central not just to Kenya but to the wider East African economy, and improving its throughput and inland connectivity has been a major regional priority. For shippers trading with Kenya or the East African interior, Mombasa is typically the key port of loading or discharge, and understanding it (and the Northern Corridor) is essential to planning East African trade. It is the maritime gateway of East Africa.