Kenya’s fledgling Port of Lamu is beginning to carve out a role in East Africa’s crowded maritime landscape, posting steady gains in cargo volumes and winning cautious endorsement from freight and logistics players keen on alternative gateways.
Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has received praise from the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (KIFWA) after the port handled 799,161 metric tonnes of cargo and 55,687 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs),
Kenya Ports officials say the numbers reflect improving operational efficiency and growing confidence among shipping lines testing new regional routes.
The gains come into sharper relief when set against the region’s dominant ports.
Mombasa, Kenya’s main maritime gateway, handled about 45.5 million tonnes of cargo and roughly 2.1 million TEUs over the same period, cementing its status as the primary entry point for the Northern Corridor serving Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
Tanzania’s Port of Dar es Salaam processed an estimated 27.7 million tonnes of cargo in its latest fiscal year, buoyed by terminal upgrades and public-private partnerships that have eased congestion and lifted productivity.
While Lamu’s volumes remain modest by comparison, the trajectory is notable. Unlike Mombasa and Dar es Salaam, whose growth is driven largely by domestic and hinterland-bound imports and exports, Lamu’s early momentum is anchored in transshipment, a model closer to that of Djibouti, which has leveraged its strategic location to serve multiple regional markets despite limited local demand.
Speaking during a courtesy call by a senior KIFWA delegation, Lamu Port general manager Capt. Abdulaziz Mzee said the improving figures point to a port gradually embedding itself within regional and international trade networks.
Mediterranean Shipping Company has become the latest major shipping line to call at Lamu, joining France’s CMA CGM, a development KPA views as a signal of rising commercial credibility.
“We continue to attract shipping lines and logistics investors who are showing interest in the Port of Lamu,” Capt. Mzee said, urging freight forwarders to actively market the port’s capabilities across the logistics and maritime community.
By comparison, ports such as Berbera in Somaliland and Port Sudan have also sought to position themselves as alternatives to congested gateways, but progress has often been constrained by infrastructure gaps and geopolitical risk.
Lamu, backed by Kenya’s state-led investment and its integration into the Lamu Port–South Sudan–Ethiopia Transport (LAPSSET) corridor, is betting on long-term regional connectivity rather than immediate scale.
KIFWA’s Lamu branch chairman Rajab Hamis said the association would deepen collaboration with KPA to promote trade and logistics growth linked to Lamu and the Northern Corridor network. For freight forwarders, he said, the port’s recent performance offered early encouragement as it transitions from a new facility into a functioning commercial port with steadily expanding activity.
