MOMBASA, Kenya, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's main seaport, the Port of Mombasa, said Thursday that it handled 41.1 million tonnes of cargo in 2024, a 14.2 percent increase from 35.98 million tonnes in 2023.

Managing Director of the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) William K. Ruto said the growth was buoyed by significant growth in containerized and bulk cargo volumes.

Some major shipping lines chose Mombasa Port as their transshipment hub, allowing smaller feeder vessels to serve eastern and southern African ports, as well as Indian Ocean islands, from Mombasa, Ruto said.

"The Port of Mombasa remains a critical hub for East Africa regional trade, and our improved performance underscores its strategic importance in trade facilitation and connectivity throughout the region," he told journalists in the coastal city of Mombasa.

The increased growth demonstrates the port's resilience and capability to manage increasing trade volumes despite global disruptions, Ruto said.

According to him, the port's container traffic surpassed 2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) for the first time in over a decade, with a total of 2.005 million TEUs handled in 2024.

Ruto said that imports rose 7.2 percent to 768,088 TEUs, up from 716,493 TEUs in 2023, while exports went up 6.6 percent to 731,934 TEUs, from 686,526 TEUs in 2023.

He also noted that transit cargo volumes surged 17.4 percent to reach 13.4 million tonnes in 2024, highlighting the port's crucial role in regional trade.

According to Ruto, Uganda remains Kenya's top transit destination, accounting for 65.7 percent of the total transit cargo, with 8.81 million tonnes handled in 2024, up from 7.11 million tonnes processed in 2023. Other notable transit destinations include South Sudan, 12.7 percent, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, 11.8 percent, Rwanda, 5.1 percent, and Tanzania, 3.4 percent.

Ruto expressed optimism about the port's future as it works on capacity-expansion development projects.

"We remain committed to enhancing our services and facilities to accommodate the growing global trade demand and to support the region's economic development," he said.

Ruto said that ongoing investments in equipment replacement and modernization, infrastructure development, and operations system upgrades ensure the Port of Mombasa's continued success as East Africa's leading trade gateway. Enditem

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