The governments of Kenya and Tanzania have prioritized port development in their 2021-22 budgets. In Kenya, National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani unveiled the country’s US $33.3 billion financial estimate, out of which he allocated US $69 million for the Mombasa port development project.
US $69million has been set aside for implementation of various projects in the Lamu Port South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor. A review will also be done on the the arrangements on fuelling by vessels calling at the Kenya ports with a view to allowing ship to ship refuelling and establishment of fuel bunker facilities. This aims to further attract more ships to our ports, particularly to the recently launched Lamu port.
US $800,000 has been allocated for the development of a Freeport and Industrial Park Special Economic Zone in the coastal city of Mombasa. The Kenyan government has also announced a raft of incentives to encourage more shipping lines to use the Mombasa and Lamu ports as the gateway to the wider eastern Africa region. The incentives include exempting fuel supplied to shipping lines from import and excise duty, value added tax, railway development levy and import declaration fees.
Tanzanian side
Their neighbours on the other hand, Tanzania’s Minister of Finance and Planning Dr. Mwigulu Nchemba unveiled the country’s US $15.5 billion budget, out of which US $1.3 billion has been allocated to flagship infrastructure projects
The government has allocated funds allocated funds for the improvement of berth numbers one to five, completion of the construction of a ro/ro berth and the improvement of berths six and seven at the Dar es Salaam port. The government also allocated funds for projects at the Mtwara port, which will go towards the completion of the construction of a new berth with a length of 300 meters and a cargo handling yard.
At the Tanga port, funds have been set aside to finance the dredging of the port from four to 13 meters, installation of navigation equipment and completion of the construction of two deep-draft berths.
“The expenditure policies in 2021-22 will include the allocation of funds to priority areas that stimulate economic growth and accord priority to ongoing projects prior to committing new ones,” said Dr Nchemba.
Both Kenya and Tanzania are competing to position their port facilities as the preferred entry point to the region, particularly targeting inland markets in landlocked nations like Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
