KPA to put KSh7.79bn into KSh79.69bn Mombasa and Lamu port concession deals

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The first batch of port assets that Kenya plans to hand to private operators at Mombasa and Lamu will cost an estimated KSh79.69bn to develop, with the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) putting in KSh7.79bn ($60m) of its own money as a co-investor, according to a National Treasury brief.

The disclosure puts a price tag for the first time on the public-private partnership (PPP) deals that the Treasury cleared KPA to tender earlier this year. It was not immediately clear how the State-owned ports manager will raise its share of the investment.

What is in the first batch

The first phase covers four assets that are listed as priorities under Kenya’s fourth medium term plan:

• Mombasa port berths 11 to 14
• Mombasa port container terminal 1
• Lamu port container terminal berths 1 to 3
• The Lamu Special Economic Zone

The Treasury describes the funding model as “user-pay”, with private operators paying concession fees to KPA. In other words, investors will recover their money from the charges paid by shipping lines and cargo owners, while KPA earns a fee for leasing out the facilities.

The Treasury gave a second approval of the feasibility report for this batch in August 2026, clearing the way for KPA to open bids. We reported on that approval in our earlier story on KPA’s Mombasa and Lamu port concession tenders.

A second KSh80bn batch is being prepared

Work has also started on a second set of concessions worth about KSh80bn. It would cover Mombasa container terminal II (berths 20 to 22), container terminal berths 23 and 24, cargo terminal berths 1 to 5 and 7 to 10, Mbaraki Wharf, and the inland container depots in Embakasi, Nairobi, and Naivasha.

Together, the two batches are expected to attract about KSh151.9bn in private investment, not counting KPA’s KSh7.79bn stake in the first round.

The Treasury opened the second portfolio of seven port-linked facilities to PPP investors in April 2026 and began hiring a transaction adviser. It argued that the assets share yards, access channels, terminal support facilities and landside logistics, so decisions on one terminal would affect the efficiency and bankability of the others. For that reason, it wants the assets structured as a portfolio rather than through separate, asset-by-asset deals.

Moving KPA to a landlord port model

The concessions are part of a wider plan to turn KPA into a landlord port. Under that model, the public body keeps ownership of the land and core infrastructure, while private investors finance, build and run terminals and other facilities under long leases.

KPA tested the approach in March 2026, when it started looking for an investor to run the Shimoni fish port in Kwale County under a landlord PPP arrangement. Shimoni is one of the Vision 2030 projects meant to support the blue economy.

Why it matters

Mombasa handles most of the import and export cargo for Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan and eastern DR Congo, so who runs its berths and how much they charge feeds directly into the cost of goods across the region. Supporters of the plan say private capital will expand capacity and speed up cargo handling without adding to public debt. Critics of port privatisation have previously raised concerns about jobs, tariffs and national control of strategic assets.

The Lamu assets are also a test of whether private operators can draw traffic to a port that has struggled to attract shipping lines since its first berths opened.

For businesses that import or export through the coast, the key issues to watch are the tender timelines, the length of the concessions and the tariff regime that winning bidders will be allowed to charge. Those looking for work in the sector can track shipping, logistics and port roles on jobinkenya.co.ke.