Port concentration, inter-port competition and revitalization: the case of Mombasa, Kenya

Mombasa is overwhelmingly the dominant port, urban and industrial complex on the Kenya coast. Improvements in operational efficiency, management restructuring and the revitalization of the port in the competitive context of the East A frican port system as a whole are critically important current policy objectives. These issues are discussed in the context of the character and development of the port. Two further issues are outlined: the proposal to establish a free port at Mombasa, and the idea of developing a second deepwater port elsewhere on the Kenya coast. Both are considered interesting but premature.