Mombasa - April13,2022

Hapag Lloyd Shipping Line is targeting to move at least one million TEUs to increase its market share in Africa to 10 percent by 2023.

The 5th largest shipping line currently moves approximately 350,000 TEUS annually in the continent, with the East African region accounting for approximately 150,000TEUS.

The Managing Director for South and East Africa Mr. Busto Rogelio said that East Africa region has been identified as a growth area by the shipping line in their expansion strategy, owing to high levels of integration in the region.

“We really need to grow in Africa, and the Port of Mombasa is a key player in the East Africa region where we target to increase our presence,” said Mr. Busto today during a meeting with KPA acting Managing Director Amb. John Mwangemi at his office.

Ambassador Mwangemi said the Port of Mombasa is a key facility for Kenya’s global trade hence the determination to make East Africa’s biggest port easy to do business with.

This huge potential has been bolstered further following the recent admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo to the East Africa Community.

The EAC member countries comprising Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Burundi, South-Sudan and now DRC has a combined population of over 200 million people.

The KPA MD added that the entrance of the DRC to the East Africa Community has made the region more attractive not just because of the population but also the strategic infrastructural developments that respective governments are implementing to increase integration and make cargo movement across the region seamless and efficient.

He noted that Kenya Ports Authority will be commissioning a number of infrastructural projects which are in the final phase of completion, to enhance efficiency and improve ease of cargo evacuation.

Key among these projects is the new Kipevu Oil Terminal; currently undergoing trial phase in readiness for operations. The latest offshore oil terminal has four berths with the capacity to handle five different oil products including heavy fuel oil, three white oil products (DPK-aviation fuel, AGO-Diesel and PMS-Petrol) and crude oil.

The Port of Mombasa’s Phase two of the second container terminal which will increase capacity at the Port by a further 450,000 TEUs annually is also set for commissioning in the next few weeks.

Hapag Llloyd commenced operations in East Africa four years ago, with first call by MV Spero at the Port of Mombasa on April 11,2018. The shipping line operates three weekly service lines connecting East Africa to Asia, Middle East and South-East Asia through hub ports like Singapore, Dar-es-salaam, Shanghai, Nahva Sheva and Jebel Ali in Dubai.

In March last year, the German Shipping Line opened new offices in Mombasa to efficiently serve customers.

ENDS-