The Port of Mombasa continued to cement its position in the region as the gateway of trade in East Africa after experiencing 14.1 percent growth to 41.1 million tonnes of cargo handled in 2024.

According to an update on Thursday, cargo handled at the Port of Mombasa increased by 5.1 million tonnes last year, demonstrating the facility's "resilience and capability to manage increasing trade volumes despite global disruptions."

"In terms of container traffic, we have recorded a significant milestone, surpassing over two million TEUs for the first time in over a decade with a total of 2,005,076 TEUs in 2024," the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) said in a statement on Thursday.

In 2023, the Port of Mombasa reported 1,623,080 TEUs implying that the facility experienced a 23.5 percent growth.

Transit cargo

Analysis by the KPA shows that imports increased by 7.2 percent to 768,088 TEUs last year compared to 716,493 TEUs recorded in 2023. "Transit cargo volumes scaled by 17.4 percent to 13.4 million tonnes, highlighting the port's crucial role in regional trade."

KPA said Uganda remained the facility's top destination for transit cargo in 2024 accounting for 65.7 percent of all goods on transit processed at the harbour. Overall, shipments heading to Uganda grew by 1,696,210 tonnes or 23.8 percent to close the year under focus at 8,811,289 tonnes.

During the year under review, other transit goods' destinations processed at the Port of Mombasa were South Sudan (12.7 percent), the Democratic Republic of Congo (11.8 percent), Rwanda (5.1 percent), and Tanzania (3.4 percent).

At the same time, the port saw the volume of exports handled increase by 6.6 percent to 731,934 TEUs.

Additionally, the port appears to have benefited from the persistent sea transport disruption in the Red Sea with KPA noting that the facility experienced increase in transshipment traffic in 2024 to 491,666 TEUs. In 2023, the port reported 280,593 TEUs meaning that this segment saw a 132.9 percent growth.

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