The Uganda –Kenya Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) is poised to significantly increase cargo volumes destined for the landlocked East African country through the Port of Mombasa, according to Uganda’s Consul General to Mombasa, Ambassador Herbert Kiguli. Speaking during a courtesy call on Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) Managing Director and CEO Captain William Ruto, the envoy highlighted that Ugandan traders are increasingly preferring Mombasa for cargo clearance due to the seamless rail connection.
This transformative infrastructure development is expected to drastically reduce transit times and freight costs between the two nations while simultaneously strengthening regional trade within the East African Community (EAC). Uganda is currently constructing its 273-kilometer Malaba-Kampala SGR section to link directly with the Kenyan border, a €2.7 billion (Sh397.1 billion) megaproject being developed by Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi that is projected to wrap up by 2028.
This regional rail initiative is moving in tandem with Kenya’s own infrastructure aggressive push, which saw President William Ruto break ground earlier this year for the construction of the Naivasha-Kisumu-Malaba SGR project at the Narok Teachers Training College grounds. The 475-kilometer network, being executed by China Communications Construction Company, is expected to be fully completed by June 2027 at an estimated cost of Sh645 billion. Ambassador Kiguli noted that while the collaborative railway project forms part of broader regional transport infrastructure initiatives aimed at enhancing connectivity, it is also expected to give the Port of Mombasa a significant competitive edge over its main regional rival, the Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
The development comes at a critical time when Kenya has been losing between five to eight percent of its high-value transit cargo annually due to inefficiencies along the Northern Corridor, primarily driven by non-tariff barriers that have previously forced frustrated traders to divert their goods to Dar es Salaam.
The Northern Corridor, which runs from Mombasa through Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, remains the vital lifeline of regional commerce, handling over 35.84 million metric tonnes of cargo annually and accounting for more than 80 percent of Kenya’s transit trade. Despite intense competition from Tanzania’s Central Corridor, the multi-billion-dollar SGR expansion is expected to firmly secure Mombasa’s dominance by modernizing logistics.
During the diplomatic visit, KPA General Manager of Finance and Commercial Services Geoffrey Kavate, who represented the CEO, acknowledged Uganda’s critical and irreplaceable role in promoting transit trade through Kenya. He pointed out that cargo heading to and from Uganda accounts for more than half of the port’s total transit volumes, firmly making Uganda the Port of Mombasa’s largest transit market and Kenya’s leading regional trading partner. Recent data proves this interdependence, with Uganda accounting for over 65 percent of all transit cargo handled at the coastal facility, surging to an impressive 10.91 million metric tonnes by the close of 2025.
The strategic railway expansion matches the explosive growth recorded at the coastal hub, where total cargo throughput reached a record-breaking 45.45 million metric tonnes in 2025, representing a stellar 10.9 percent increase from the 40.99 million tonnes recorded in 2024.
Container traffic also experienced robust growth, rising to 2.11 million TEUs, which marks a 5.5 percent year-on-year increase. In a recent media briefing summarizing the port’s exceptional performance outlook, KPA Managing Director William Ruto revealed that overall transit cargo grew sharply to 15.88 million tonnes up from 13.29 million tonnes the previous year, underscoring Kenya’s expanding and undisputed role as the primary economic gateway to East and Central Africa.
