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KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY KENYA PORTS AUTHORITY ACTING MANAGING DIRECTOR AMB. JOHN MWANGEMI, DURING THE 28^TH IEK ANNUAL INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, ON THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2021 AT PRIDE INN PARADISE AND BEACH RESORT, MOMBASA

Chief Guest,

IEK Council President Eng. Nathaniel Matalanga,

IEK Council members,

Engineers,

Distinguished Guests,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Good afternoon.

I am delighted and honored to join you at the 28^th IEK Annual International Conference. Karibuni Mombasa. We in the Port city of Mombasa, which is the home of Kenya Ports Authority, are glad that this is your preferred venue for this year’s conference just like in the previous years.

 Looking at the theme of this conference “Engineers Accelerating Sustainable Economic Recovery” and the topics on the programme, I am convinced that there’s a great opportunity to reflect on the current and future challenges confronting humanities and come up with ideas and strategies for the country’s long term economic recovery. The subject matter is very timely considering that we have very few years left as the clock ticks, and we still have our eyes fixed on the country’s economic blueprint Vision 2030. For this dream to be a reality, we are relying on the men and women in this gathering to come up with ideas that will accelerate high quality infrastructure and equipment technology development that will enable Kenya’s transformation into a middle-income economy that is competitive with a high quality of life.

Ladies and Gentlemen, you in the engineering profession are therefore the pillars and key drivers of our country’s development not forgetting your crucial role in meeting His Excellency President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Big Four Agenda of Food Security, affordable housing, manufacturing and affordable healthcare.

At the Kenya Ports Authority, we are entrusted with a key national installation, the Port of Mombasa, which is the gateway to East Africa.  As we aim to attain world class ports of choice status, engineering is core to our existence and that is why within our establishment we have diverse specialists included and not limited to electrical, marine, mechanical and civil engineers. I am proud to say that a large part of the delegates here are employees of the Kenya Ports Authority. In our quest to provide efficient and competitive port services to facilitate global trade, the Authority equally relies on the expertise of engineers who besides its employees are consultants, contractors, and suppliers locally, regionally and internationally. KPA is mandated to develop, operate and manage all scheduled seaports along the Kenyan Coastline and Inland Waterways in Kenya.

As an organization we are committed to promoting and empowering engineers in providing solutions to challenges confronting humanity. Some of the key roles played by our engineers are; port infrastructure development, offshore and onshore equipment operations, offshore and onshore equipment maintenance, and environmental system management.

Development projects

Ladies and gentlemen,

May I take this opportunity to share with you some of the mega projects being undertaken by the Kenya Ports Authority which would not have been possible to undertake in the absence of the engineers:

Construction of Second Container Terminal (CT2) Phase II

Development of CT2 phase II is part of the Mombasa Port Development Project (MPDP), one of the country’s Vision 2030 flagship projects aimed at expanding container handling capacity of Mombasa Port to remain competitive while boosting the country’s economy. Construction of phase II, which is Berth 22, with an additional capacity of 450,000 TEUs, commenced in August 2018 and is expected to be completed by May 2022. Upon completion it will increase the Port of Mombasa’s annual capacity from 1.65 million TEUs to 2.2 million TEUs by 2022.

Relocation of Kipevu Oil Terminal (KOT)

The project is about relocation of Kipevu Oil Terminal for safety reasons and to increase handling capacity. The new KOT will have all facilities for off-loading crude oil, refined petroleum, and LPG. Upon completion, the Authority will have a bigger terminal consisting of four berths capable of berthing four vessels of up to 170,000 DWTs at once. Construction of this new KOT commenced in 2018 and is expected to be completed by December 2021.  

Berths 11-14 Re-development

This is another key project aimed at improving the port’s handling capacity and to rehabilitate, straighten, strengthen and deepen the berths which have been in existence for over 60 years. The works entail strengthening of the berths and adjacent yards to create a multi-purpose berth for handling both container and conventional cargoes.

Port of Lamu

Construction of Lamu Port is a Vision 2030 flagship project identified by the Government of Kenya under the Lamu Port, Southern Sudan and Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET) comprising of 23 berths of 400 meters each and a draft of -17.5 meters. The construction of phase 1 (first 3 berths) and yard is complete. The first berth was operationalized on May 20,2021 and the facility is well equipped to handle cargo operations and has so far received eight vessels. We have plans for a robust equipment acquisition plan to procure additional state of the art equipment to ensure efficient delivery of services is sustained at this second commercial port.

Expansion of Kipevu Road

With support from Trademark East Africa (TMEA), in 2018 the Authority embarked on expansion of the 2-way dual carriage Kipevu Road from Changamwe roundabout to Gate 18. The road which is completed has been widened to provide seamless connection to ease flow of traffic into and out of the port.

Shimoni Port

Plans are underway to start the construction of Shimoni as an industrial fishing port with a capacity of 50,000 metric tons.

Reconstruction of Dockyard Tugboats Jetty

This is another completed project which has provided us with a safe berthing facility for the tugboats. It involved demolition of the existing tugboat jetty, driving of tubular steel foundation piles for new jetty structure, rehabilitation of existing revetment, installation of fenders and installation of utilities.

Cruise Terminal

The shade at Berths 1 and 2 was converted into a modern cruise ship terminal which is complete and ready for use.

The ultra-modern facility has passenger reception facilities, duty free shops, restaurants, conference facilities and office spaces for key tourism stakeholders.

The terminal has also been fitted with CCTV cameras for security as well as intrusion detection devices to ward off trespassers and baggage facility with conveyor belt.

Kisumu Port

Kisumu Port is also undergoing rehabilitation and after completion of the first phase we have witnessed improved performance. We are now focusing on phase II of the project which is redevelopment of the Kisumu Port expansion as well as revamping some of the feeder ports such as Homa Bay among others to complement Kisumu.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Those are just some of the infrastructural development projects that we are currently undertaking. Quickly let me now say something about port performance.  

Port performance

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused massive disruptions in the global maritime industry. This has sent supply-side and demand-side shock waves as well as shocks to the global financial markets. Closer home, the countries served by the Port of Mombasa, namely Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, Northern Tanzania, Eastern DRC, Ethiopia and Somalia have experienced huge economic downturns due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Reduced cargo demand and supply led to a reduced throughput in the port performance in 2020. However, in 2021, notable resilience was observed, and I am glad to report that in the period January – September 2021, the Port of Mombasa handled 26.17 million tons compared to 25.05 million tons in the corresponding period in 2020. This is an increase of 1.12 million tons or growth of 4.4 percent.  During the period under review, the port also witnessed increased volumes in container traffic registering 1,099,554 TEUs against 1,006,087 TEUs recorded in a similar period in 2020. This translates to an increase of 93,467 TEUs or 9.3 percent. Mombasa Port is therefore at the forefront in facilitating a quick economic recovery as the regional trade continues to pick up in the countries that depend on it.

Despite the marginal improvement in performance, KPA acknowledges that inherent challenges still exist, and there’s no doubt engineering expertise will play a large part in providing solutions to accelerate economic recovery. We will therefore continue to work closely and partner with engineers to come up with solutions to address challenges.

I look at engineers as crucial facilitators towards achievement of the KPA Vision “World Class Ports of Choice” and Mission to “Provide efficient and competitive Port Services to facilitate global trade”. In that respect, KPA joins the Institution of Engineers of Kenya in this year’s conference theme and expects to see engineers progressively implement innovative ideas to lead the rest of us to the next level.

Thank you and God bless you