The ports of Mombasa and Dar es Salaam are currently under negotiations to be made private rather than state owned.

This was disclosed by the Secretary-General of the East African Community, Dr Richard Sezibera.
“I believe this move will create a competition bringing down further the cost of doing business in the region, which will in turn increase investment and economic growth,” Dr Sezibera said at the Secretary General’s private sector CEO’s forum in Kampala this week.

This plan is aimed at making the ports operate at a more efficient level as they provide access to the ocean to all of the EAC member states and to neighbouring countries such as South Sudan and Democaratic Republic of Congo.

Mombasa Port is operated by the Kenya Ports Authority which has always been criticised for the bureaucratic procedures and delays that hinder trade on the Northern Corridor.

The Mombasa port, according to traders, has more trade barriers, including the recent directive by Kenya Revenue Authority that all transit sugar and motor vehicle imports, whose capacity exceeds 2000cc, must pay a cash bond equivalent to the value of imported cargo or bank guarantee before leaving the port of Mombasa.

Dr Sezibera informed the CEOs that the secretariat was following closely the issue of the introduction of cash bond at Mombasa Port and that the Government of Kenya had assured them that the current situation was not a government policy but just an administrative arrangement.

“We will continue working together with the Government of Kenya to remove this bond completely as we do for other non-tariff barriers (NTBs),” added Dr Sezibera.