How Kenya-Uganda diplomatic tiff affected cargo in Mombasa port
Uganda has taken Kenya to the East African Court of Justice after Nairobi denied its government-owned oil marketer a licence to operate locally, and handle fuel imports headed to Kampala.
What you need to know:
- Kenya lost about Sh10.4 billion worth of exports to Uganda, its largest regional market in the last three months of 2023.
- Tanzanian cargo handled in Mombasa increased from 235,531 MT in 2022 to 312,871 MT last year.
The diplomatic rift between Kenya and Uganda experienced for several months last year resulted in a decline of cargo passing through Mombasa port by more than 200,000 metric tonnes (MT). Conversely, other regional states recorded a significant increase in cargo in the same period.
Uganda, which has for years registered the highest transit traffic of cargo through Mombasa port recorded a total throughput of 7,115,079 MT of goods last year compared to 7,319,408 MT in 2022. This indicates a net decline of 204,329 MT of cargo passing through Mombasa.
According to KPA 2023 Annual Review and Bulletin of Statistics, the diplomatic feud with Uganda over fuel imports led to a decline of Kipevu Oil Terminal 2 occupancy from 82.2 percent in 2022 to 30.8 percent last year.
Kenya lost about Sh10.4 billion ($200 million) worth of exports to Uganda, its largest regional market in the last three months of 2023.
The country was dragged to court by Uganda, her biggest trade partner and longtime friend over an oil importation deal which affected volumes of oil imported through Mombasa.
The wrangles saw Uganda sue Kenya at the East African Court of Justice for denying her a licence to operate locally and handle oil imports headed to its territory.
Through its Attorney General, Uganda said Kenya restrained the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority from issuing them with a licence to move oil from Mombasa to Uganda.
The recent shuttle diplomacy between two countries that saw an end of the feud now signifies a new era as Kenya expects to improve its Uganda transit cargo business.
According to the KPA 2023 Annual Review and Bulletin of Statistics, all other regional states registered an increase of cargo shipments and Mombasa recovered somewhat.
Tanzanian cargo handled in Mombasa increased from 235,531 MT in 2022 to 312,871 MT last year, as Kenya took advantage of inefficiencies at Dar es Salaam to increase its share of port business.
South Sudan-bound cargo also increased from 1,262,581 MT to 1,920,114 MT, whereas that destined for DR Congo shot up from 962,888MT to 1,510,979 MT last year.
A boost in cargo traffic from other countries helped Mombasa handle more as seen in the 33,880 million MT in 2022 to 35,979 million MT in 2023. The increase was 11.9 percent in 2023.
Tea exports increased from 731,000 MT to 756,000 MT followed by coffee - 426,000 MT last year compared to the 407,000 MT in 2022.
Iron and steel were the highest imported cargo in 2023 followed by plastic, rice and motor vehicles.
