Linking ports to power the engine room of East Africa’s trade

Trademark East Africa’s support for the modernization of ports in Mombasa and Dar-es-Salaam, and its one-stop border posts, are transforming trade and driving integration across East Africa. The UK in Kenya and Tanzania plays an important role in supporting them, through UK aid.

The time it takes to move goods from Mombasa to Kampala has been halved to 6 days and a container now moves through the port of Mombasa in less than 4 days – down from 11 days a few years ago. This has led to the reduction of freight and transport costs, increased competitiveness of goods exported by East African countries, and led to job creation.

Trademark East Africa (TMEA) was founded by the UK in 2009 with the aim of growing prosperity in East Africa through trade. Funded by UK aid and other development partners, TMEA’s flagship project in Kenya is the modernization of the Mombasa Port—Kenya’s biggest port which serves a region of more than 200 million people.

UK aid in Kenya is currently increasing its support to trade (anticipated £95m over the next 4 years). This will create hundreds of thousands of new jobs, stimulate further growth and generate additional revenue for the Kenyan authorities to provide basic services for those in need. The UK’s new support will build viable roads and expand docking points at Mombasa Port for ships to increase the efficiency of goods moving between countries. The support will enhance regional trade, increase Kenyan exports to the rest of the world, and help increase Kenya government revenue by an additional $1.2 billion. Increasing trade will boost local economic growth and contribute to poverty reduction, while opening up markets for British investors and delivering value for money for UK taxpayers.

With the UK’s help East Africa will continue to build its port and transport infrastructure, the engine room of trade for a booming continent.