Pwani 2050 Commons - Recent changes [en]

Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:14:00 GMT

Link the Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:14, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment]]
	* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]		* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
	* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]		* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]

Kwale County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:13:59 GMT

Link the Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:13, 16 October 2026
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	== What this page is for ==		== What this page is for ==
	This page is the place for what the Pwani 2050 community knows about Kwale County: its role in the plan, the facts in the infobox with their sources, and its stated positions on contested questions (use the {{tl\|Position}} template). Write from sources you can cite; add a reference for every figure.		This page is the place for what the Pwani 2050 community knows about Kwale County: its role in the plan, the facts in the infobox with their sources, and its stated positions on contested questions (use the {{tl\|Position}} template). Write from sources you can cite; add a reference for every figure.

			== Projects ==
			* [[Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Kilifi County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:13:59 GMT

Link the Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:13, 16 October 2026
Line 18:		Line 18:

	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment]]
	* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]		* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]
	* [[Pwani Space University]]		* [[Pwani Space University]]

Mombasa County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:13:58 GMT

Link the Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:13, 16 October 2026
Line 18:		Line 18:

	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment]]
	* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]		* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
	* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]		* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]

Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:13:58 GMT

New project page for Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment, with sources, uploaded documents and counterpoints

New page

{{Hero
| image = Mombasa port container cranes.jpg
| alt = Electrically powered ship-to-shore container cranes with large cable reels at the Port of Mombasa, with workers and trucks on the quay. The port is one of the industrial loads the project aims to serve; it is not the project site.
| position = center
}}
{{Infobox project
| name = Private Greenfield Energy Investment (reliable power for industry)
| status = proposed
| theme = Energy
| counties = Mombasa, Kilifi, Kwale
| lead_organisation = Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa
| partners = None named
| budget =
| funding_source = Private investment by an independent power producer, with lenders; no structure published
| start_year =
| end_year =
| website = https://edicpwani.ke/#OurPriorities
}}

The '''Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment''' is a project within the [[Energy]] theme. It is a proposal by the [[Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa]] (EDIC) for a new, privately financed renewable or hybrid power project, either at utility scale or serving commercial and industrial users directly, to give manufacturers, the port and logistics firms and tourism businesses in Mombasa, Kilifi and Kwale cheaper and more reliable electricity. It is at the earliest stage: EDIC has not named a site, technology, size, sponsor or budget. The page sets out the coast's power supply and the rules that would govern such a project.

== What it is ==
EDIC describes "a utility-scale or C&I renewable/hybrid solution to stabilise power costs and improve reliability for manufacturing, logistics, and tourism assets", and says it "will scope demand, identify candidate sites, prepare the concept note and mini-model, and engage IPPs, lenders, and EPC partners".<ref name="edic-home">[https://edicpwani.ke/#OurPriorities Our Priorities], Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa, read 15 October 2026.</ref> "C&I" refers to commercial and industrial customers, and "IPPs" to independent power producers. The project has no page of its own on EDIC's site.

There are two broad routes. A utility-scale plant would sell power to Kenya Power under a power purchase agreement. A commercial and industrial project would supply one or more large users directly, either on their own premises or over the national grid. Kenya's net-metering rules, which took effect in July 2024, cap commercial and industrial systems at 1 MW and credit only half of each unit exported to the grid, which suits rooftop self-supply rather than a larger shared plant.<ref name="netmeter">[[:File:Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations 2024.pdf|The Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations, 2024 (Legal Notice 104 of 2024)]], Kenya Law, July 2024, regulations 3, 5 and 9.</ref>

=== The coast's power supply ===
Kipevu III, KenGen's 120 MW plant in Mombasa burning heavy fuel oil, is now the only operating thermal power station on the coast. In March 2026 parliamentary committees told KenGen to convert it to liquefied natural gas before its contract expires in 2031, warning that failure to convert or extend it "could trigger a power crisis" at the coast; KenGen said operation beyond 2031 depends on LNG infrastructure.<ref name="std-kipevu">[https://thestandard.ke/business/amp/business/article/2001543424/mps-push-kengen-to-upgrade-its-power-generation-technology MPs push KenGen to upgrade its power generation technology], Mate Tongola, The Standard, 19 March 2026.</ref> Kenya Power's accounts show it paid about KSh 13.1 billion for 461 GWh from Kipevu III and about KSh 12.1 billion for 489 GWh from the Rabai thermal plant in 2024/25, roughly KSh 25 to 28 per kWh, among its costliest sources.<ref name="kplc">[https://kplc.co.ke/storage/01KB4JTB49DXJ81DG79JVEE0M3.pdf Integrated Annual Report 2025], Kenya Power and Lighting Company, 2025, PDF page 172 (note 8(b)); the cost per kWh is calculated on this page from the figures given.</ref> The government plans a 1,200 MW gas-fired plant near Mombasa as a public private partnership, which would run on imported LNG; no gas supply has been secured.<ref name="bd-gas">[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/industry/kenya-gears-up-for-tests-on-planned-natural-gas-plant-5437222 Kenya gears up for tests on planned natural gas plant], John Mutua, Business Daily, 26 April 2026.</ref> The coast's largest renewable plant is Malindi Solar in Kilifi County, 52 MWp (40 MW to the grid), developed by Globeleq and exporting power since December 2021.<ref>[https://www.africa-energy.com/news-centre/article/kenya-40mw-malindi-solar-pv-commissioned Kenya: 40MW Malindi Solar PV is commissioned], Africa Energy, January 2022.</ref> Industry is also building its own supply: Equator Energy commissioned a large solar plant for Mombasa Cement at Vipingo in 2025.<ref>[https://www.africa-energy.com/news-centre/article/kenya-equator-energy-commissions-utility-scale-pv-plant-mombasa Kenya: Equator Energy commissions utility-scale PV plant for Mombasa Cement], Maina Waruru and Marc Howard, Africa Energy, 30 September 2025.</ref>

== Rationale ==
EDIC's case is that coast power is costly and unreliable for industry, but it publishes no figures.<ref name="edic-home" /> The official record partly supports it. The coast's thermal plants are among Kenya Power's most expensive sources,<ref name="kplc" /> and a JICA survey of the sector found that independent power producers supply a minority of energy but about half of Kenya Power's purchase costs.<ref name="jica">[https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/12347670.pdf Data Collection Survey on Optimal Use of Energy in Kenya, Final Report], JICA, PADECO and Oriental Consultants Global, March 2025, PDF pages 19 and 43.</ref> The same survey, citing the energy regulator's statistics, puts the Coast region at about 18 per cent of national electricity use.<ref name="jica" /> On reliability, Kenya Power reports national outage measures improving in 2024/25, with average interruption time falling from 120 to 113 hours a year, but publishes no coast-specific figures, and it attributes widespread outages to transmission constraints.<ref name="kplc2">[https://kplc.co.ke/storage/01KB4JTB49DXJ81DG79JVEE0M3.pdf Integrated Annual Report 2025], Kenya Power and Lighting Company, 2025, PDF pages 86 and 90.</ref> The prospect of Kipevu III leaving the system in 2031 is the clearest coast-specific supply risk.<ref name="std-kipevu" />

== Status and timeline ==
The project is at concept stage, with no concept note or site published.<ref name="edic-home" /> The national policy setting has recently changed. Kenya Power signed no new power purchase agreement after 2018; a moratorium on new agreements was lifted by the Cabinet in 2023 and reinstated by MPs, and on 12 November 2025 the National Assembly adopted its Energy Committee's proposal to lift it, with wholesale prices capped at US$0.07 per kWh.<ref name="bd-ppa">[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/industry/mps-lift-freeze-on-new-power-purchase-deals-to-avert-crisis-5262458 MPs lift freeze on new power purchase deals to avert crisis], John Mutua, Business Daily, 12 November 2025.</ref> The net-metering regulations took effect in July 2024.<ref name="netmeter" />

=== How the project is being procured ===
No Terms of Reference, tender or PPP listing exists. EDIC proposes to approach independent power producers, lenders and engineering contractors directly.<ref name="edic-home" /> A plant selling to Kenya Power would now need a power purchase agreement within the US$0.07 per kWh cap;<ref name="bd-ppa" /> one serving industrial users directly would rely on the open-access rules in the Energy Act 2019 and its 2024 regulations, for which no published wheeling charge was found.

== Who is involved ==
EDIC is a multi-stakeholder council for Greater Mombasa chaired by Dr Kevit Desai.<ref name="edic-home" /> Kenya Power buys and distributes electricity, KenGen operates Kipevu III,<ref name="std-kipevu" /> and the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority licenses generators and sets tariffs. No developer, lender or customer has been named.

* [https://edicpwani.ke/ Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa]
* [https://kplc.co.ke/ Kenya Power]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
No one has commented in public on the EDIC proposal. The points below come from the wider record on private power in Kenya and on energy projects at the coast, as general context.

=== Costs to the public ===
Kenya froze new power purchase agreements for years over concern that existing ones were too expensive, and when MPs lifted the freeze in November 2025 they capped wholesale prices at US$0.07 per kWh.<ref name="bd-ppa" /> A new plant on a long-term agreement would add to the public's fixed commitments unless it is competitively priced and actually needed; the same report notes that the freeze coincided with rising power imports and rationing, mainly in western Kenya, rather than at the coast.<ref name="bd-ppa" />

=== Utility revenue ===
Kenya Power lists "declining grid-based electricity demand" as large users turn to their own supply among its principal risks.<ref>[https://kplc.co.ke/storage/01KB4JTB49DXJ81DG79JVEE0M3.pdf Integrated Annual Report 2025], Kenya Power and Lighting Company, 2025, PDF page 72.</ref> A project that takes the coast's largest industrial users off the grid would help those users but shift the grid's fixed costs onto the households and small businesses that remain.

=== Land, communities and the Lamu precedent ===
Coastal energy projects have met strong local opposition. In June 2019 the National Environment Tribunal cancelled the environmental licence for Amu Power's 1,050 MW coal plant at Lamu, finding public participation inadequate and the climate law ignored, in a case brought for Save Lamu; the company said it would work with stakeholders.<ref>[https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/tribunal-cancels-kenya-coal-power-project-licence-1421086 Tribunal cancels Kenya coal power project licence], Abiud Ochieng, The EastAfrican, 27 June 2019.</ref> A renewable project needs land too: a utility-scale solar plant of tens of megawatts takes tens of hectares, and the existing Garissa plant, for example, uses about 81 hectares for 50 MW.<ref>[https://www.pv-magazine.com/2017/04/21/cjic-starts-construction-of-kenyas-first-large-scale-pv-plant/ CJIC starts construction of Kenya's first large-scale PV plant], Emiliano Bellini, pv magazine, 21 April 2017.</ref> Early consultation on land in Kilifi or Kwale would be essential.

=== Firm power ===
Solar alone does not supply power at night or during cloudy spells, so a "reliable power for industry" project would need batteries, a hybrid design or continued grid backup. The government's answer to coast firm power is the planned gas plant, which a private renewable project would complement rather than replace.<ref name="bd-gas" />

== Sources ==
* [[:File:Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations 2024.pdf|The Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations, 2024]], Kenya Law.
* [https://kplc.co.ke/storage/01KB4JTB49DXJ81DG79JVEE0M3.pdf Kenya Power Integrated Annual Report 2025], Kenya Power (38 MB, linked rather than uploaded).
* [https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/12347670.pdf Data Collection Survey on Optimal Use of Energy in Kenya], JICA, March 2025.
* [https://edicpwani.ke/#OurPriorities Our Priorities], EDIC.

== References ==
<references />

File:Mombasa port container cranes.jpg

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:13:57 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Mombasa port container cranes.jpg Hero image for Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment

New page

== Summary ==
Ship-to-shore container cranes at the Port of Mombasa, photographed on 31 July 2015 by Stuart Price for the Kenyan Ministry of East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism (MEAACT), released into the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2015_07_31_Mombasa_Port_JPEG_RESIZED_0018.jpg). Credit: MEAACT photo / Stuart Price. Resized to 2560 px wide.

Contributed as the hero image for [[Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations 2024.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:13:55 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations 2024.pdf Source document for Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment

New page

== Summary ==
The Energy (Net-Metering) Regulations, 2024, Legal Notice 104 of 2024, made under the Energy Act 2019, consolidated text from Kenya Law as at 26 July 2024. Regulation 3 caps commercial and industrial systems at 1 MW, regulation 5 caps aggregate net metering, and regulation 9 credits 50 per cent of exported energy. Downloaded from https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/ln/2024/104/eng@2024-07-26/source.pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Greater Mombasa Greenfield Energy Investment]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:11:52 GMT

Link the Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:11, 16 October 2026
Line 20:		Line 20:
	* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]		* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
	* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]		* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]
			* [[Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility]]
	* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]		* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Mombasa County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:11:52 GMT

Link the Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:11, 16 October 2026
Line 20:		Line 20:
	* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]		* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
	* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]		* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]
			* [[Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility]]
	* [[Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation]]		* [[Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation]]
	* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]		* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]

Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:11:52 GMT

New project page for Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility, with sources, uploaded documents and counterpoints

New page

{{Hero
| image = Port of Mombasa bulk carrier in Kilindini Harbour.jpg
| alt = A geared bulk carrier at anchor in Kilindini Harbour, Mombasa, with port buildings and storage structures on the far shore under a blue sky
| position = center
}}
{{Infobox project
| name = Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility (agrilogistics), Shimanzi and Miritini
| status = proposed
| theme = Ports & Logistics
| counties = Mombasa
| lead_organisation = Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa
| partners = None named
| budget =
| funding_source = Private investment sought; no structure published
| start_year =
| end_year =
| website = https://edicpwani.ke/#OurPriorities
}}

The '''Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility''' is a project within the [[Ports & Logistics]] theme. It is a proposal by the [[Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa]] (EDIC) for a shared handling and storage platform at Shimanzi or Miritini in [[Mombasa County]], open to several users and commodities such as grain, cold-chain produce and fertiliser, to cut logistics costs and speed up regional trade through the port. It is at the earliest stage: EDIC says it will write the concept note, and no cost, site, operator or timetable has been published. The page sets out the existing bulk-handling arrangements at the port that any such facility would join.

== What it is ==
EDIC lists the facility among its eight priority projects as "a shared, multi-commodity handling and storage platform (e.g., grains, cold-chain, fertiliser) to cut logistics costs and improve throughput for regional trade". It says it "will develop the concept note, engage operators and off-takers, and outline delivery and revenue models to reach investor readiness".<ref name="edic-home">[https://edicpwani.ke/#OurPriorities Our Priorities], Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa, read 15 October 2026.</ref> Unlike some other EDIC priorities, it has no project page of its own, and EDIC gives no capacity, cost, land parcel or partners.

=== Existing bulk handling at the port ===
Mombasa already has one mechanised terminal for imported grain and fertiliser, at Shimanzi. It was built by Grain Bulk Handlers Ltd with financing from the International Finance Corporation in 1997 as "the first modern bulk handling and storage facility in Mombasa for imported grains and fertilizers".<ref>[https://disclosures.ifc.org/project-detail/SPI/8274/grain-bulk-handlers-ltd-gbhl Grain Bulk Handlers Ltd (GBHL): Summary of Proposed Investment], International Finance Corporation, 12 September 1997.</ref> The company, renamed Bulkstream in 2024, is the sole operator of mechanised bulk grain handling at the port; it handles grain, fertiliser, edible oil and other bulk cargo and has about 220,000 tonnes of silo storage.<ref name="bd-bulk">[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/companies/sa-fund-manager-controlling-stake-mombasa-tycoon-grain-firm-4784846 SA fund manager eyes controlling stake in Mombasa port firm], Marion Sitawa, Business Daily, 3 October 2024.</ref> Bulkstream says it also moves grain by the standard gauge railway to its own inland terminal at Embakasi in Nairobi.<ref name="bulkstream">[https://www.bulkstream.com/ports-and-terminals/ Ports and Terminals], Bulkstream, read 15 October 2026.</ref>

A common-user facility would therefore either compete with or complement this terminal. The Kenya Ports Authority's performance contract for 2025/26 lists new berths at Dongo Kundu and Berth 19, but no grain or multi-commodity terminal.<ref name="kpa-pc">[[:File:KPA Performance Contract 2025-2026.pdf|Performance Contract between the Government of Kenya and the Board of Directors of the Kenya Ports Authority, 2025/26]], Kenya Ports Authority, September 2025, PDF pages 6 and 12.</ref>

== Rationale ==
EDIC's case is qualitative. The context supports a capacity argument. Freight through the Port of Mombasa rose from 34.6 million tonnes in 2021 to 45.5 million tonnes in 2025.<ref name="knbs">[[:File:KNBS Kenya Facts and Figures 2026.pdf|Kenya Facts and Figures 2026]], Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, April 2026, printed page 80 (Table 46).</ref> The Northern Corridor Transport Observatory reports that dry bulk imports at Mombasa rose 29.7 per cent in 2025 to 8.99 million tonnes, about a quarter of all imports, and that ships waited an average of 4.7 days to berth against a target of 0.3 days.<ref name="ncttca">[https://www.ttcanc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/EN-21-TOP-Report.pdf 21st Edition Northern Corridor Transport Observatory Report 2025], Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority, August 2026, executive summary and printed page 26 (Table 13).</ref> Kenya imported KSh 58.5 billion of chemical fertiliser and KSh 55.1 billion of rice in 2025.<ref>[[:File:KNBS Kenya Facts and Figures 2026.pdf|Kenya Facts and Figures 2026]], Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, April 2026, printed page 39 (Table 25).</ref> No published data shows which commodities face a storage or handling shortfall, so the case for a new facility, as against expansion of the existing one, has yet to be made.

== Status and timeline ==
The facility is at concept stage, with no concept note yet published.<ref name="edic-home" /> The wider history is a long dispute over competition in grain handling. In 2008 the Kenya Ports Authority's board resolved to liberalise grain handling at the port to end the monopoly, but the tender for a second handler was halted, according to the authority's evidence to Parliament in 2024.<ref name="milling2024">[https://millingmea.com/kenya-ports-authority-under-scrutiny-over-alleged-monopoly-in-grain-handling/ Kenya Ports Authority under scrutiny over alleged monopoly in grain handling], Milling Middle East and Africa, 21 May 2024.</ref> The authority later licensed Portside Freight Terminals to build a second grain facility worth about KSh 5.8 billion, including a "common user island berth", without open tendering. The High Court blocked the licence in 2021, the Court of Appeal reversed that in 2024, and the Supreme Court nullified it in 2025, finding the authority had not justified bypassing competitive procurement.<ref name="nation-sc">[https://beta.nation.co.ke/kenya/news/supreme-court-nullifies-joho-family-s-sh5-8bn-grain-facility-deal-at-mombasa-port--5101072 Supreme Court nullifies Joho family's Sh5.8bn grain facility deal at Mombasa port], Daily Nation, 30 June 2025.</ref> No re-tender has been reported.

=== How the project is being procured ===
No Terms of Reference, request for proposals or PPP listing exists for this facility. EDIC says it will outline delivery and revenue models and engage operators and off-takers.<ref name="edic-home" /> The Supreme Court's ruling on the Portside licence means any facility on port land would need open, competitive procurement.<ref name="nation-sc" />

== Who is involved ==
EDIC is a multi-stakeholder council for Greater Mombasa chaired by Dr Kevit Desai.<ref name="edic-home" /> The Kenya Ports Authority controls port land and berths.<ref name="kpa-pc" /> Bulkstream operates the existing grain and fertiliser terminal at Shimanzi.<ref name="bd-bulk" /> The National Cereals and Produce Board receives government fertiliser imports through Mombasa.<ref>[https://beta.nation.co.ke/kenya/counties/mombasa/long-awaited-fertiliser-docks-in-mombasa-ncpb-ramps-up-weekend-distribution--5408830 Long-awaited fertiliser docks in Mombasa, NCPB ramps up weekend distribution], Kevin Mutai, Daily Nation, 31 March 2026.</ref> No operator or investor has been named.

* [https://edicpwani.ke/ Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa]
* [[Kenya Ports Authority]]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
No one has yet commented in public on the EDIC proposal. The points below come from the record of grain handling and cargo policy at Mombasa, as general context.

=== Competition and procurement ===
Parliament's Committee on Implementation questioned the Kenya Ports Authority in 2024 over the single grain handler's position; the authority's leaders replied that the board had resolved to liberalise the service and that tendering had paused for consultation.<ref name="milling2024" /> The one recent attempt to add a competitor was itself challenged by Senator Okiya Omtatah and the Dock Workers Union and struck down by the Supreme Court; the authority had argued that diversifying grain handling protected food security.<ref name="nation-sc" /> A new common-user facility would face the same questions about how its operator is chosen and how it shares port access. In 2024 Portside also sued the authority and Bulkstream over rail sidings at the port that it said served Bulkstream alone.<ref>[https://nation.africa/kenya/news/joho-family-firm-sues-kpa-grain-handler-over-alleged-mombasa-port-interference-4760944 Joho family firm sues KPA, grain handler over alleged Mombasa port interference], Philip Muyanga, Daily Nation, 7 December 2024.</ref>

=== Port efficiency ===
The Northern Corridor Observatory attributes rising container dwell times, an average of 106.7 hours in 2025 against a 48-hour target, and longer vessel waiting times to congestion, coordination gaps and extended free storage.<ref name="ncttca" /> These are mostly container measures. A new storage platform would help only if the bottleneck is storage rather than berths, clearance or inland transport, which the published data does not settle.

=== Mombasa's logistics economy ===
Cargo policy is politically sensitive in Mombasa. After an earlier requirement that Nairobi-bound imports move by rail and clear inland, President William Ruto ordered clearance returned to the port, and on 26 September 2022 the Kenya Ports Authority told shipping lines that the place of clearance and mode of transport would be the importer's choice.<ref>[https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/79946-rutos-order-sgr-takes-effect-kpa-issues-guidelines Ruto's Order on SGR Takes Effect, KPA Issues Guidelines], Kenyans.co.ke, September 2022.</ref> A facility at Miritini near the railway, rather than at Shimanzi, would sit on the same fault line between rail and road.

== Sources ==
* [[:File:KPA Performance Contract 2025-2026.pdf|Kenya Ports Authority Performance Contract 2025/26]], Kenya Ports Authority.
* [[:File:KNBS Kenya Facts and Figures 2026.pdf|Kenya Facts and Figures 2026]], Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
* [https://www.ttcanc.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/EN-21-TOP-Report.pdf 21st Northern Corridor Transport Observatory Report 2025], NCTTCA.
* [https://edicpwani.ke/#OurPriorities Our Priorities], EDIC.

== References ==
<references />

File:Port of Mombasa bulk carrier in Kilindini Harbour.jpg

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:11:51 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Port of Mombasa bulk carrier in Kilindini Harbour.jpg Hero image for Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility

New page

== Summary ==
A bulk carrier at anchor in Kilindini Harbour, Port of Mombasa, photographed on 7 September 2011 by Andrew Thomas and published on Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Port_of_Mombasa.jpg). It shows the port generally, not the site of the proposed facility.

Contributed as the hero image for [[Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility]].

== Licensing ==
Licensed under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic licence]. Credit: Andrew Thomas.

File:KNBS Kenya Facts and Figures 2026.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:11:49 GMT

Jay uploaded File:KNBS Kenya Facts and Figures 2026.pdf Source document for Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility

New page

== Summary ==
Kenya Facts and Figures 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, April 2026. Table 25 (printed page 39) gives the value of principal imports including fertiliser, wheat and rice; Table 46 (printed page 80) gives freight and container traffic at the Port of Mombasa, 2021 to 2025. Downloaded from https://www.knbs.or.ke/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/2026-Facts-and-Figures.pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:KPA Performance Contract 2025-2026.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:11:39 GMT

Jay uploaded File:KPA Performance Contract 2025-2026.pdf Source document for Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility

New page

== Summary ==
Performance Contract between the Government of Kenya and the Board of Directors of the Kenya Ports Authority for 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026 (PDF dated 15 September 2025). Lists targets for Dongo Kundu Berth 1, Berth 19, cargo throughput (44.4 million tonnes) and container traffic (PDF pages 6 and 12). Downloaded from https://portal.kpa.co.ke/web-uploads/documents/768c92ba-2ec1-4c2b-9aba-25839e9d5ba6.pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:09:11 GMT

Note that Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:09, 16 October 2026
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	Also cited by [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]].		Also cited by [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]].

			Also cited by [[Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{Government work}}		{{Government work}}

File:Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2026-2027.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:09:10 GMT

Note that Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:09, 16 October 2026
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	Contributed as a source for [[Mombasa Convention Centre]].		Contributed as a source for [[Mombasa Convention Centre]].

			Also cited by [[Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{Government work}}		{{Government work}}

Mombasa County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:09:10 GMT

Link the Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:09, 16 October 2026
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	* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]		* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
	* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]		* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]
			* [[Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation]]
	* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]		* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]
	* [[Tudor Creek Barrage]]		* [[Tudor Creek Barrage]]

Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:09:09 GMT

New project page for Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation, with sources, uploaded documents and counterpoints

New page

{{Hero
| image = Mombasa Old Town covered street concept illustration.jpg
| alt = AI-generated concept illustration of a narrow Old Town street at night under a glass canopy, lit by lanterns, with carved Swahili doors, a guitarist, food stalls and visitors walking on stone paving
| position = center
}}
{{Infobox project
| name = Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation
| status = proposed
| theme = Tourism
| counties = Mombasa
| lead_organisation = Pwani 2050
| partners = Possible partners: County Government of Mombasa, National Museums of Kenya
| budget =
| funding_source = Not yet identified
| start_year =
| end_year = 2050
| website =
}}

The '''Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation''' is a project within the [[Tourism]] theme. It is a proposal from the Pwani 2050 plan to restore Mombasa's historic Old Town, the 72-hectare Swahili quarter beside Fort Jesus in [[Mombasa County]], with better safety, lighting and drainage, stronger heritage protection, a covered evening street on the model of Clarke Quay in Singapore, and a ban on cars in selected streets, where only electric tuk-tuks and motorbikes and timed deliveries would be allowed, as in Valletta in Malta and San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. The plan links the work to what it calls Old Town's 500th anniversary in 2050; no historical event around 1550 that would mark such an anniversary has been found. The county and the National Museums of Kenya already run small Old Town projects, but there is no costed, area-wide rehabilitation plan.

== What it is ==
Old Town lies on the eastern side of Mombasa Island beside Tudor Creek and covers about 72 hectares.<ref name="wp-ot">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mombasa_Old_Town Mombasa Old Town], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref> It is the setting of Fort Jesus, built by the Portuguese between 1593 and 1596 and inscribed as a World Heritage Site in 2011. UNESCO describes Old Town as "integral to Fort Jesus' historic context" and as the fort's buffer zone, which covers 31 hectares.<ref name="whc-prop">[http://web.archive.org/web/20260927155954/https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1295 Fort Jesus, Mombasa], UNESCO World Heritage Centre, read through an archived copy of 27 September 2026.</ref> Old Town was declared a conservation area in 1990, but ICOMOS found in 2011 that the gazetted area covers only 13 hectares against the 31-hectare buffer zone, that local by-laws limit buildings to three storeys and require National Museums of Kenya approval for all construction, and that a 2003 survey found a quarter of the historic fabric in bad condition.<ref name="icomos">[https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1295rev.pdf Fort Jesus, Mombasa (Kenya), No 1295rev], ICOMOS evaluation, 2011, printed pages 17 and 23 to 26.</ref> UNESCO volunteer project sheets describe Old Town as on Kenya's Tentative List for World Heritage since 1997.<ref name="whv">[https://whc.unesco.org/document/193704 World Heritage Volunteers: Mombasa Old Town, Kenya], UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 2022.</ref>

The Pwani 2050 proposal has four parts. The first is basic repair: safety, street lighting, drainage and protection of historic buildings. The second is a covered tourist street with evening activity. Singapore's Clarke Quay, the model named, was redeveloped by CapitaLand with ETFE canopies designed by Will Alsop over its riverside streets, completed in 2006, and was upgraded again for S$62 million in 2022 and 2023.<ref name="lsaa">[https://lsaa.org/projects/large-fabric-structures/96-clarke-quay-redevelopment Clarke Quay Redevelopment, Singapore], LSAA 2007 Design Awards.</ref><ref>[https://mothership.sg/2022/07/capitaland-clarke-quay-cq/ Clarke Quay to turn into daytime hangout too after S$62 million upgrade], Nigel Chua, Mothership, 26 July 2022.</ref> The third is a ban on private cars in selected streets, with electric tuk-tuks and electric motorbikes allowed and commercial deliveries at set times. Valletta has charged vehicles to enter its centre since 2007, with electric vehicles exempt since 2017,<ref>[https://www.iea.org/policies/6694-controlled-vehicular-access-cva-fee-exemption Controlled Vehicular Access (CVA) Fee Exemption], International Energy Agency, read 15 October 2026.</ref> and Mdina restricts access to its streets by regulation.<ref>[https://legislation.mt/eli/sl/65.27/eng Mdina (Restriction of Access and Transit of Vehicles) Regulations, S.L. 65.27], Legislation Malta.</ref> When it inscribed San Miguel de Allende in 2008, the World Heritage Committee encouraged the town to implement a study of traffic control in its historic centre.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/1505 Decision 32 COM 8B.44, Protective Town of San Miguel and the Sanctuary of Jesús Nazareno de Atotonilco], UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2008.</ref> The fourth, set out elsewhere in the Pwani 2050 plan, is to recognise Swahili heritage in architecture, signs and boats across the coast.

=== The 2050 date ===
A 500th anniversary in 2050 would mark an event in about 1550. The documented dates in Mombasa's history are earlier or later: the Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama visited in 1498, Portuguese forces sacked the town in 1505 and again in 1528, the Mandhry Mosque was built in 1570, and Fort Jesus was begun in 1593.<ref name="wp-msa">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mombasa Mombasa], Wikipedia, history section, read 15 October 2026.</ref> The 500th anniversary of the 1528 sack falls in 2028, and that of Fort Jesus in the 2090s. The plan's 2050 date is best read as the horizon of the Pwani 2050 plan rather than as an anniversary.

== Rationale ==
The case for intervention comes mainly from heritage officials and the county. In 2015 the Mombasa Old Town Conservation Office said at least 26 buildings needed urgent restoration, some total reconstruction, and the National Museums of Kenya said at least KES 300 million was needed while the government had never allocated money for the purpose.<ref name="nation2015">[https://mwananchi.co.tz/kenya/life-and-style/travel/who-will-save-mombasa-s-old-town-from-fast-and-mindless-destruction--1070204 Who will save Mombasa's Old Town from fast and mindless destruction?], Gitonga Marete, Daily Nation, 21 February 2015 (Nation Media Group syndicated copy).</ref> In April 2026 the county's Transport and Infrastructure Executive, Dan Manyala, said Old Town's drainage, "constructed centuries ago by the Portuguese, is now outdated and overwhelmed", and that because the area is protected "any intervention must preserve its heritage".<ref>[https://nation.africa/kenya/climate/when-it-rains-it-floods-the-problem-with-mombasa-5433954 When it rains, it floods: The problem with Mombasa], Daily Nation, 23 April 2026.</ref> An Old Town building collapsed in 2021 after deep excavation for a new development next door,<ref name="pd2021">[https://peopledaily.digital/lifestyle/mombasa-old-town-heritage-status-threatened-by-highrise-buildings Mombasa Old Town heritage status threatened by highrise buildings], Harrison Kivisu, People Daily, 5 February 2021.</ref> and another collapse in April 2025 killed a man.<ref>[https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/mombasa%20building/136332/search-underway-as-man-is-killed-in-collapsing-mombasa-building Search underway as man is killed in collapsing Mombasa building], Farhiya Hussein, The Eastleigh Voice, 9 April 2025.</ref>

On tourism, Fort Jesus is among Kenya's most visited heritage sites,<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2026-04-29-nairobi-museum-fort-jesus-among-top-visited-sites-report Nairobi National Museum, Fort Jesus top most visited sites], Perpetua Etyang, The Star, 29 April 2026.</ref> but traders told People Daily in 2021 that tourist numbers through Old Town had fallen sharply.<ref name="pd2021" /> The county's own long-range plan already points in the same direction as the proposal: its Integrated Strategic Urban Development Plan of 2015 calls for protecting Old Town's built heritage "from rapid transformation of urban growth and motorization", with "motor traffic calming and promotion of pedestrian use", periodic pedestrianised bazaars, seafront integration and storm-water drainage with all cabling underground.<ref name="isudp">[https://maarifa.cog.go.ke/sites/default/files/2025-08/Mombasa%20County%20Vision%202035%20-%20ISUDP%20Document.pdf Mombasa County Vision 2035: Integrated Strategic Urban Development Plan], County Government of Mombasa and Ministry of Land, Housing and Urban Development, under the World Bank-financed Kenya Municipal Programme, October 2015, printed pages 3-12, 6-1 and 6-2.</ref>

== Status and timeline ==
Old Town has seen piecemeal work for three decades. A conservation plan was prepared in 1990 and Old Town was declared a conservation area that year.<ref name="icomos" /> The European Union funded restoration in Mombasa and Lamu in the 1990s and gave KES 100 million in 2002, described in 2015 as the last major face-lift.<ref name="nation2015" /> The National Museums of Kenya restored Leven House, now the Old Town Conservation Office, between 2001 and 2009 with the French heritage group CRAterre.<ref>[https://craterre.org/en/case/rehabilitation-de-leven-house/ Refurbishment of Leven House], CRAterre, read 15 October 2026.</ref> In 2010 and 2011 the World Heritage Committee asked Kenya to write the 1990 guidelines into by-laws, revive the Mombasa Old Town Planning Commission, strengthen the conservation office and set up "a holistic management structure for the Old Town that involves all the stakeholders, and in particular the local community".<ref name="dec2010">[https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/3992 Decision 34 COM 8B.12, Fort Jesus, Mombasa], UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2010.</ref><ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/4290 Decision 35 COM 8B.19, Fort Jesus, Mombasa], UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2011.</ref>

During the COVID-19 period the county, with UN-Habitat, ITDP and the TUMI initiative, planned a trial closure of about 300 m of Biashara Street to cars in the afternoons and evenings.<ref>[https://transformative-mobility.org/focus-area/tumi-challenges/covid-challenge-mombasa-kenya/ POP-UP Pedestrianization: COVID Challenge Mombasa, Kenya], TUMI, undated.</ref> In 2023 the county said it was demolishing unsafe Old Town houses and installing sewerage under an urban plan; no cost or timetable was given.<ref name="nation2023">[https://mwananchi.co.tz/kenya/counties/mombasa/historic-mombasa-old-town-gears-up-for-face-lift-4336700 Historic Mombasa Old Town gears up for face-lift], Winnie Atieno, Daily Nation, 16 August 2023 (Nation Media Group syndicated copy).</ref> In January 2025 the Alliance Française, the French Embassy, the National Museums of Kenya and the Flipflopi Project renewed Old Town's heritage signboards.<ref>[https://www.theflipflopi.com/blog/2025/1/16/revitalizing-mombasa-old-town Revitalizing Mombasa Old Town], Lucas Malcor, The Flipflopi Project, 16 January 2025.</ref> The county's development plan for 2026/27 records allocations in 2025/26 for the restoration and painting of Old Town and the rehabilitation of the Old Town fish market, and plans a KES 25 million "artistic Gateway frame to old town" for 2026/27.<ref name="adp2627">[[:File:Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2026-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2026/2027]], County Government of Mombasa, August 2025, PDF pages 22 and 223.</ref> The county's plan for 2023 to 2027 has no dedicated Old Town programme.<ref name="cidp23">[[:File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027]], County Government of Mombasa, 2023.</ref>

=== How the project would be procured ===
There is no Terms of Reference, feasibility study or budget for an area-wide rehabilitation. Any work in Old Town needs approval from the National Museums of Kenya,<ref name="icomos" /> and work that affects the setting of Fort Jesus would normally need a heritage impact assessment for the World Heritage Centre. A car ban would need a county by-law.

== Who is involved ==
The proposal comes from the Pwani 2050 plan. The National Museums of Kenya manage Fort Jesus and run the Mombasa Old Town Conservation Office in Leven House.<ref name="icomos" /> The County Government of Mombasa controls planning, roads, drainage and street lighting; its Lands, Planning and Housing Executive, Mohammed Hussein, has spoken for the county on Old Town.<ref name="nation2023" /> Residents, landowners, the Old Town ward representative and groups such as Friends of Fort Jesus are the other main voices.<ref name="nation2015" /> A 2025 architecture study from Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology found that historic scale, materials and building types can guide new infill buildings that fit the Old Town.<ref>[https://sjess.jkuat.ac.ke/index.php/sjess/article/view/173 The role of historic form attributes in the design of contemporary infills in urban heritage areas: a case of Old Town Mombasa], Nancy Hylline Adhiambo Otieno, SABS Journal of Environment, Space and Society 1(1), 2025, pages 154 to 155.</ref>

* [https://www.museums.or.ke/ National Museums of Kenya]
* [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1295 Fort Jesus, Mombasa (UNESCO)]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
No one has yet commented in public on the Pwani 2050 proposal itself. The points below come from debate over earlier Old Town interventions in Mombasa.

=== Residents, landowners and gentrification ===
When the county began demolishing unsafe houses in 2023, it worked with landowners to move tenants out; the historian Allawy Abzain, a former National Museums official, said "the old buildings should be rehabilitated not to lose their luster".<ref name="nation2023" /> Munira Ali Omar of Haki Yetu argues that Swahili landowners in Mombasa are being pushed into sales that create "an illusion of voluntary sale", mostly in nearby Majengo.<ref>[https://www.theelephant.info/opinion/2025/03/20/mombasa-dispossession-gentrification-and-loss-of-heritage/ Mombasa: Dispossession, Gentrification and Loss of Heritage], Munira Ali Omar, The Elephant, 20 March 2025.</ref> A 2021 study found that top-down conservation and weak local economic gains had left younger Old Town residents without a sense of ownership of conservation goals.<ref>[https://journals.eanso.org/index.php/eajass/article/view/493 'Old Townism': A Generational Discord], Derrick A. Chondo, Mugwima B. Njuguna and Gerryshom Munala, East African Journal of Arts and Social Sciences 4(1), 6 December 2021.</ref> UNESCO's 2004 mission to Lamu, as general context, found more property being bought by outsiders after Lamu's World Heritage listing.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/archive/2004/scr-1055-2004.pdf The State of Conservation of the World Heritage Site of Lamu Old Town], UNESCO and ICOMOS mission report, May 2004, PDF page 4.</ref>

=== Tuk-tuk operators and traders ===
Tuk-tuk operators have opposed every previous restriction in Mombasa. When the county barred them from main streets in 2013, leaving Old Town open to them, the association chairman Obedi Muruli said the rules were "killing the transport industry" and complained of no consultation.<ref>[https://capitalfm.africa/uproar-as-tuk-tuk-banned-from-mombasa-main-streets/ Uproar as Tuk Tuk banned from Mombasa main Streets], Capital FM, 20 August 2013.</ref> When the county said in 2019 that tuk-tuks would be phased out, a resident asked how many people could afford "a taxi and pay 10 times more for the same distance".<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2019-05-21-tuk-tuks-to-be-banned-from-mombasa-cbd Tuk-tuks to be banned from Mombasa CBD], The Star, 20 May 2019.</ref> A rule allowing only electric tuk-tuks would exclude most of today's petrol fleet unless it came with financing to convert.

=== Nightlife in a residential Muslim neighbourhood ===
Old Town is a dense residential area with many mosques. In 2018 the Mombasa County Assembly passed a motion, seconded by the Old Town ward representative, to bar bars and nightclubs within 300 m of homes, schools and places of worship; one member said, "We would rather lose revenue but have sanity".<ref>[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/counties/mombasa-mcas-seek-to-ban-night-clubs-in-residential-areas-2227698 Mombasa MCAs seek to ban night clubs in residential areas], Winnie Atieno, Business Daily, 15 November 2018.</ref> A covered nightlife street on the Clarke Quay model would need to be designed around this, for example as a family evening market of food, music and crafts rather than a bar district. The county's own plan proposes "pedestrianized (periodic) commercial bazaars", a lighter approach than a roofed entertainment street.<ref name="isudp" />

=== Heritage rules and enforcement ===
A glass canopy over historic streets would itself be a major intervention in the setting of a World Heritage Site. UNESCO and ICOMOS have long recorded weak enforcement in Old Town: the planning commission had lapsed by 2010, the conservation office was understaffed, and the gazetted conservation area does not match the buffer zone.<ref name="icomos" /><ref name="dec2010" /> Residents have blamed the National Museums and the National Construction Authority for approving modern buildings, while Fort Jesus officials say they are pushing to restrict development.<ref>[https://capitalfm.africa/kenyas-coastal-heritage-site-losing-shine-amid-growth-of-concrete-jungle/ Kenya's coastal heritage site losing shine amid growth of concrete jungle], Xinhua, Capital FM, 12 February 2021.</ref> In 2025 the Fort Jesus curator, Fatma Twahir, said "We are losing what makes Mombasa unique", and the county's lands executive said the authorities do not expect Old Town houses to be replaced by high-rises.<ref>[https://beta.nation.co.ke/kenya/counties/mombasa/modernisation-versus-the-majestic-old-is-mombasa-losing-its-cultural-identity--4881814 Modernisation versus the majestic old: Is Mombasa losing its cultural identity?], Wachira Mwangi, Daily Nation, 8 January 2025.</ref> Past beautification has also been criticised for uniformity: in 2018 the county ordered buildings in the city centre and Old Town painted white with a blue border.<ref>[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/counties/all-mombasa-cbd-buildings-to-have-one-colour-2193290 All Mombasa CBD buildings to have one colour], Mohamed Ahmed, Business Daily, 9 March 2018.</ref>

== Sources ==
* [[:File:Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2026-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2026/2027]], County Government of Mombasa.
* [[:File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027]], County Government of Mombasa.
* [https://maarifa.cog.go.ke/sites/default/files/2025-08/Mombasa%20County%20Vision%202035%20-%20ISUDP%20Document.pdf Mombasa County Vision 2035: Integrated Strategic Urban Development Plan], 2015 (25 MB, linked rather than uploaded).
* [https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1295rev.pdf ICOMOS evaluation of Fort Jesus, Mombasa], 2011.
* [https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1295rev.pdf Fort Jesus nomination dossier], Government of Kenya and National Museums of Kenya, 2010 and 2011.
* [https://whc.unesco.org/document/193704 World Heritage Volunteers: Mombasa Old Town], UNESCO, 2022.
* [https://sjess.jkuat.ac.ke/index.php/sjess/article/view/173 Historic form attributes and contemporary infill in Old Town Mombasa], JKUAT, 2025.

== References ==
<references />

File:Mombasa Old Town covered street concept illustration.jpg

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:09:08 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Mombasa Old Town covered street concept illustration.jpg Hero image for Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation

New page

== Summary ==
AI-generated concept illustration of a covered Old Town street in Mombasa at night, with a glass canopy, lanterns, musicians and food stalls, from the Pwani 2050 proposal by Jay Shapiro, inspired by Clarke Quay in Singapore. It is an illustration of a concept, not a design or an official plan.

Contributed as the hero image for [[Mombasa Old Town Rehabilitation]].

== Licensing ==
{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}

File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:36 GMT

Note that Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:06, 16 October 2026
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	Also cited by [[Tudor Creek Barrage]].		Also cited by [[Tudor Creek Barrage]].

			Also cited by [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{Government work}}		{{Government work}}

Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:35 GMT

Link the Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:06, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
			* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]
	* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]		* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]
	* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Kilifi County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:35 GMT

Link the Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:06, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]
	* [[Pwani Space University]]		* [[Pwani Space University]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Mombasa County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:35 GMT

Link the Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:06, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
	* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]		* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
			* [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]]
	* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]		* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]
	* [[Tudor Creek Barrage]]		* [[Tudor Creek Barrage]]

Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:34 GMT

New project page for Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System, with sources, uploaded documents and counterpoints

New page

{{Hero
| image = Mombasa electric ferry concept illustration.jpg
| alt = AI-generated concept illustration of a white solar-roofed electric catamaran ferry crossing a creek in Mombasa, with palm trees in the foreground and futuristic towers and an arched bridge on the far shore
| position = center
}}
{{Infobox project
| name = Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System (Water Transport PPP)
| status = planned
| theme = Transportation
| counties = Mombasa, Kilifi
| lead_organisation = Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa
| partners = County Government of Mombasa, Mombasa Investment Corporation, UN-Habitat, Kenya Ports Authority, Kenya Maritime Authority
| budget = 1,000,000,000
| funding_source = Proposed public private partnership: the county would own the jetties and a private operator would run the vessels and collect fares
| start_year = 2023
| end_year =
| website = https://edicpwani.ke/reclaiming-time-and-mobility-through-coastal-water-transport/
}}

The '''Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System''' is a project within the [[Transportation]] theme. It is a plan for a network of public water buses on Mombasa's creeks and harbour, linking the island to the north and south mainland and to Mtwapa in [[Kilifi County]], to take commuters off congested roads and bridges. The [[Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa]] (EDIC) lists it as a priority and is helping the Mombasa Investment Corporation prepare it as a public private partnership; the county lists it as a KES 1 billion flagship, and a UN-Habitat feasibility study published in 2026 proposes 22 jetties and a pilot route from about 2028. The Pwani 2050 plan adds that the vessels should be electric, citing new battery and hydrofoil ferries in Sweden and South America. The feasibility study costs diesel catamarans and only recommends that specifications "promote" hybrid or electric vessels, so the electric part of the idea is not yet in the official plan.

== What it is ==
EDIC describes a "public-private ferry/water-bus service to decongest roads and improve access across creeks and the port corridor", and says it will convene a stakeholder workshop to review the existing business plan and support the Mombasa Investment Corporation (MIC) "with financial modelling to engage investors and structure the transaction".<ref name="edic-home">[https://edicpwani.ke/#OurPriorities Our Priorities], Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa, read 15 October 2026.</ref> EDIC's homepage card labels the project "Malindi, Kilifi", but every other source, including EDIC's own project page, describes a Mombasa network. EDIC's project page proposes a model in which the county owns the jetties and a private operator runs the vessels and the farebox, citing NY Waterway, the Rotterdam Waterbus and Manly Fast Ferry. It gives an indicative pilot cost of US$4 to 10 million for two terminals and two vessels, a second phase from 2028 at US$30 to 50 million, more than 400 direct jobs and more than 25 million passenger trips a year at full scale.<ref name="edic-page">[https://edicpwani.ke/reclaiming-time-and-mobility-through-coastal-water-transport/ Reclaiming Time and Mobility Through Coastal Water Transport], Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa, July 2026.</ref>

The county's plan for 2023 to 2027 lists "Water Transport" as a county flagship in all sub-counties, "to decongest the traffic in the county", by collaborating with the national government on a PPP with development partners and providing a legal framework, with identified landing sites as the output, at an estimated KES 1 billion, led by the Transport and Infrastructure department and MIC.<ref name="cidp23">[[:File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027]], County Government of Mombasa, 2023, printed page 200 (Table 49, County Flagship Projects).</ref> The county's development plan for 2024/25 budgets a water transport feasibility study and sets targets for jetties and access roads, but targets no water buses for procurement in that year.<ref name="adp2425">[[:File:Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2024-2025.pdf|Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2024/2025]], County Government of Mombasa, 2024, PDF page 127.</ref>

=== The feasibility study ===
The most detailed plan is a feasibility study for coastal and harbour water transport, funded through the EU's Go Blue project and carried out for UN-Habitat by the Coastal and Marine Resource Development consultancy (COMRED). It proposes 22 landing jetties, 18 in Mombasa and 4 at Mtwapa, grouped in six route corridors: Mtwapa Creek, the north coast beaches, Tudor Creek to Nyali, the open sea east of the island, and Kilindini Harbour and Port Reitz. It costs 150-seat aluminium catamarans at US$3 to 3.5 million and 300-seat catamarans at about US$6 million, running at 25 knots on diesel at an estimated 600 litres an hour. Its roadmap gives MIC and the county the environmental assessment, land tenure checks, financial modelling and legal review for 2025 to 2027, then design, jetty construction and a pilot on one route, for example Likoni to Kisauni, between 2028 and 2032.<ref name="unh">[https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2026/03/un_habitat_mombasa_fs_report.pdf Feasibility Study for Coastal and Harbour Water Transportation in Mombasa], UN-Habitat and COMRED (Go Blue project), published March 2026, printed pages vi, 30 to 33 and 40 to 42.</ref> Of 207 residents surveyed, 92.2 per cent said they were interested in using public water transport, and most preferred a fare of KES 50 to 100.<ref name="unh" />

=== The electric option ===
The Pwani 2050 plan proposes an electric ferry system, offering carbon-neutral fast water transport, combined with Swahili design in the vessels and terminals. The feasibility study notes that fuel is the largest running cost of a diesel water bus, about US$1.75 million a year for one 300-seat vessel, and recommends that vessel specifications "promote investment in hybrid/electric water buses and ferries, solar energy systems for water buses", but it does not cost an electric option.<ref name="unh" />

Two recent vessels show what is now possible. In Stockholm, the Swedish company Candela's P-12 hydrofoil ''Nova'', a 12 m electric ferry that lifts its hull out of the water on foils, began carrying passengers between Ekerö and the city centre in October 2024 as a pilot with the regional transport authority, cutting the trip from 55 to about 30 minutes.<ref name="eu-obs">[https://urban-mobility-observatory.transport.ec.europa.eu/news-events/news/stockholm-expands-electric-hydrofoil-ferry-service-after-successful-pilot-2025-05-06_en Stockholm expands electric hydrofoil ferry service after successful pilot], Carla Giaume, EU Urban Mobility Observatory, 6 May 2025.</ref> Candela reports that the evaluation of the pilot found 66 per cent lower energy use and 94 per cent lower carbon emissions than the diesel ferries, a 22.5 per cent rise in ridership and 95 per cent of passengers positive.<ref name="candela-eval">[https://candela.com/newsroom/stockholms-electric-flying-ferry-successful-on-all-parameters/ Stockholm's electric flying ferry successful on all parameters], Candela, 12 February 2026.</ref> The P-12 cruises at about 25 knots with a range of up to 40 nautical miles and charges in about 45 minutes to an hour from a DC fast charger.<ref name="candela-p12">[https://candela.com/p-12/ Candela P-12], Candela, read 15 October 2026.</ref> A P-12 began running on the Spree in Berlin in 2024, and an operator in Norway ordered 20 in April 2026.<ref>[https://www.designboom.com/technology/candela-flying-electric-hydrofoil-ferry-berlin-p-12-09-06-2024/ Candela's flying electric hydrofoil ferry arrives in Berlin], Matthew Burgos, Designboom, 6 September 2024.</ref><ref>[https://electriccarsreport.com/2026/04/norway-orders-20-candela-p-12-electric-hydrofoil-ferries-for-zero-emission-coastal-travel/ Norway Orders 20 Candela P-12 Electric Hydrofoil Ferries], Blagojce Krivevski, Electric Cars Report, 10 April 2026.</ref>

At the other end of the scale, the ''China Zorrilla'', built by Incat in Tasmania for the Buquebus line, is a 130 m ferry for up to 2,100 passengers and 225 vehicles, driven by more than 250 tonnes of batteries with over 40 MWh of capacity. It made its first crossing under its own power from Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay to Buenos Aires on 1 October 2026, with chargers built at both ends of the route.<ref name="marinerslog">[https://marinerslog.co.nz/insights-news/the-world-s-largest-electric-ferry-is-now-sailing The World's Largest Electric Ferry Is Now Sailing], Mariners Log, 5 October 2026.</ref> The Maritime Executive reported the same 30 nautical mile route across the Río de la Plata, and that Incat is building three more large electric ferries for Denmark's Molslinjen.<ref name="marex">[https://maritime-executive.com/article/world-s-largest-electric-vessel-arrives-to-begin-service-in-uruguay World's Largest Electric Vessel is Set to Begin Service on Rio de la Plata], The Maritime Executive, 13 September 2026.</ref> Mariners Log cautions that battery degradation, charger and grid reliability and the promised savings remain the key uncertainties, and that battery-electric ferries remain best suited to carefully chosen routes.<ref name="marinerslog" />

In Africa, Lagos State launched the Omi Eko programme in 2025, a €410 million plan for 75 electric ferries on 15 routes, funded by loans from the European Investment Bank and the French development agency AFD and an EU grant.<ref>[https://leadership.ng/lagos-secures-e170m-eib-funding-for-electric-ferry-transport-project/ Lagos Secures €170m EIB Funding For Electric Ferry Transport Project], Yusuf Babalola, Leadership, 2026.</ref><ref>[https://nairametrics.com/2026/01/14/lagos-to-introduce-electric-boats-to-reduce-ferry-fares-in-2026/ Lagos to introduce electric boats to reduce ferry fares in 2026], Caleb Obiowo, Nairametrics, 14 January 2026.</ref> No electric passenger ferry was found operating on the Kenyan coast.

== Rationale ==
EDIC's case is that Mombasa is an island whose bridges and causeway are congested, with more than a million people entering and leaving it each day, more than 55 per cent of residents naming congestion as the city's main transport problem, and over 90 per cent supporting public water transport.<ref name="edic-page" /> These figures broadly match the feasibility study, whose survey found congestion the top road transport problem for 58.6 per cent of respondents and 92.2 per cent support for water transport; the million daily trips figure dates from a 2014 pre-feasibility study by the Dutch firm Berenschot.<ref name="unh" /> The Likoni crossing alone carries more than 400,000 people and 6,000 vehicles a day.<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-09-20-likoni-ferry-crossing-channel-set-for-sh10bn-upgrade Likoni ferry crossing channel set for Sh10bn upgrade], Brian Otieno, The Star, 20 September 2025.</ref> The case for electric vessels is that fuel dominates running costs and that the Stockholm results show large energy savings on short urban routes.<ref name="unh" /><ref name="candela-eval" />

== Status and timeline ==
Water buses for Mombasa have been proposed many times. In 2013 the PPP Committee approved Kenya Ferry Services' concept for an Integrated Marine Transport System of water buses, water taxis and coastal ferries, which Kenya Ferry Services later said it was revising for resubmission.<ref name="ag2020">[https://libraryir.parliament.go.ke/server/api/core/bitstreams/f092a170-d337-4a5a-af64-b3cba410900b/content Report of the Auditor-General on Kenya Ferry Services Limited for the year ended 30 June 2020], Office of the Auditor-General, tabled 2021, annual report page 11 of 56.</ref> In 2014 the county commissioned the Berenschot pre-feasibility study, which found "Island Line" water-bus services linking the north mainland and the east of the island technically and financially viable.<ref name="unh" /> In March 2017 the county again sought investors for sea transport to relieve the Nyali Bridge.<ref>[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/mombasa-county-mulls-mass-sea-transport-to-decongest-city--2145190 Mombasa County mulls mass sea transport to decongest city], Mathias Ringa, Business Daily, 28 March 2017.</ref> The JICA master plan for Mombasa of 2018 included water transport along the Nyali channel but judged it a niche service.<ref name="jica">[https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/12306270_02.pdf Comprehensive Development Master Plan in the Mombasa Gate City, Final Report Part II], JICA, March 2018, printed page 10-21.</ref> The county corporation MIC was gazetted in 2020.<ref>[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/opinion-analysis/columnists/investment-agency-for-mombasa-laudable-2725898 Investment agency for Mombasa laudable], Jaindi Kisero, Business Daily, 29 October 2020.</ref>

UN-Habitat called for proposals for the full feasibility study in January 2024, at the request of Governor Abdulswamad Sharif Nassir,<ref>[https://unhabitat.org/join-us/calls/full-feasibility-study-ffs-on-inland-passenger-water-transport-mombasa-county Full Feasibility Study (FFS) on Inland Passenger Water Transport, Mombasa County], UN-Habitat, January 2024.</ref> and published the study in March 2026.<ref name="unh" /> EDIC says screening, concept and pre-feasibility were complete by the first quarter of 2026, with detailed design, approvals and investor financing to follow through 2027.<ref name="edic-page" /> EDIC's council discussed the water transport initiative, including proof-of-concept sites, in June 2026.<ref>[https://edicpwani.ke/edic-council-meeting-turning-vision-into-implementation/ EDIC Council Meeting: Turning Vision into Implementation], Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa, 30 June 2026.</ref> In August 2025 the Kenya Ports Authority separately launched an Integrated Maritime and Inland Water Transport System with the four coastal counties.<ref name="ev-kpa">[https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/coast%20counties/197786/kenya-ports-authority-coastal-counties-launch-landmark-maritime-transport-project Kenya Ports Authority, coastal counties launch landmark maritime transport project], Farhiya Hussein, The Eastleigh Voice, 18 August 2025.</ref> As of October 2026 no operator, vessel order or financing has been announced.

=== How the project is being procured ===
No Terms of Reference, request for proposals or transaction advisory tender has been published, and the project does not appear in the PPP Directorate's pipeline status report of December 2024.<ref>[https://pppkenya.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/PPP-PIPELINE-STATUS-REPORTS-AS-AT-DECEMBER-2024-Q2-Rvsd-Final.pdf PPP Pipeline Status Reports as at December 2024], PPP Directorate, National Treasury, January 2025.</ref> The county and MIC are preparing it outside the formal PPP tender process, from the feasibility study and the earlier business plan, with EDIC supporting the financial model and investor sounding. The feasibility study's roadmap places procurement of landing infrastructure, vessels and ticketing through expressions of interest in 2028 to 2032.<ref name="unh" />

== Who is involved ==
EDIC is a multi-stakeholder council for Greater Mombasa chaired by Dr Kevit Desai.<ref name="edic-home" /> The County Government of Mombasa and the Mombasa Investment Corporation own the project and lead its preparation.<ref name="cidp23" /> UN-Habitat, with UNEP and the EU's Go Blue project, funded the feasibility study, with COMRED's Howard M'mayi and Innocent Ngao as technical leads.<ref name="unh" /> The Kenya Ports Authority, which absorbed Kenya Ferry Services, runs the Likoni ferries, and the Kenya Maritime Authority regulates vessel safety.<ref name="ev-kpa" /> No private operator has been named.

* [https://edicpwani.ke/reclaiming-time-and-mobility-through-coastal-water-transport/ EDIC water transport page]
* [https://www.mombasa.go.ke/ County Government of Mombasa]
* [https://candela.com/p-12/ Candela P-12]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
The main doubts come from the project's own studies, from the record of state ferry operations at Mombasa, and from experience with commuter water transport and electric ferries elsewhere.

=== Cost and demand ===
The feasibility study's own figures put a water bus at about twice the hourly operating cost of bus rapid transit for the same 695 passengers, and it concedes that BRT "may be more cost-efficient per passenger". In its 14-year table for one 300-seat vessel, net revenue stays negative until year 12.<ref name="unh" /> JICA's master plan team judged a Nyali channel service "quite a niche market" that "will not cover the mass demand, and will not contribute to congestion alleviation", better suited to city branding; the UN-Habitat team replied that Nyali includes middle and low-income households who would use it.<ref name="jica" /><ref name="unh" /> EDIC's figures also sit uneasily with the study's: two 300-seat catamarans alone would cost about US$12 million against EDIC's pilot budget of US$4 to 10 million for two vessels and two terminals, and the study's assumption of about 328,500 passengers a year per vessel would need some 75 vessels to reach EDIC's 25 million trips.<ref name="edic-page" /><ref name="unh" /> A water bus charging fares would also compete with the Likoni ferries, which are free for pedestrians.

=== Safety and the record of state ferries ===
The Auditor-General found in 2017 that two Likoni ferries were overdue for dry-docking, that one engine had run more than 30,000 hours against an overhaul interval of 8,500, that defective pulleys let ferry prows dip under water, and that the ferries had no third-party insurance, concluding: "This endangers the safety of ferry users". The same audit found a KES 1.86 billion contract for two ferries awarded to the bidder ranked fourth.<ref name="ag2017">[[:File:Auditor-General report on Kenya Ferry Services 2016-2017.pdf|Report of the Auditor-General on Kenya Ferry Services Limited for the year ended 30 June 2017]], Office of the Auditor-General, pages 2, 3, 5 and 6.</ref> In September 2019 a car rolled off the MV Harambee and a woman and her daughter drowned; Business Daily reported that the recovery exposed poor marine rescue readiness.<ref>[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/shipping-logistics/ferry-accident-exposes-dire-state-of-marine-safety-rules-2267066 Ferry accident exposes dire state of marine safety rules], Anthony Kitimo, Business Daily, 8 October 2019.</ref> In September 2026 a leisure boat capsized in Tudor Creek, killing two people, and the governor ordered the Kenya Maritime Authority to inspect all passenger vessels.<ref>[https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/127035-mombasa-governor-orders-inspection-all-passenger-boats-after-fatal-capsizing Mombasa Governor Orders Inspection of All Passenger Boats After Fatal Capsizing], Diana Imanene, Kenyans.co.ke, 14 September 2026.</ref> Half of those surveyed for the feasibility study were unsure how safe water transport would be.<ref name="unh" />

=== Tides, landing sites and fishing ===
Stakeholders told the feasibility team that Mtwapa Creek is navigable for only about 15 of its 25 km and only at high tide, that the open sea north of the island is rough, that many landing sites are encroached or lack title deeds, that dredging could harm reefs, seagrass and mangroves, and that matatu operators might resist a competitor. The study recommends marking routes and consulting beach management units to protect fishing grounds.<ref name="unh" /> Old Town fishermen have already accused the Kenya Ports Authority of destroying their fishing grounds through dredging; the report carried no KPA response.<ref>[https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/old%20town/194829/kpa-accused-of-destroying-fishing-areas-forcing-old-town-fishermen-into-disputed-waters KPA accused of destroying fishing areas, forcing Old Town fishermen into disputed waters], Farhiya Hussein, The Eastleigh Voice, 12 August 2025.</ref>

=== Electric vessels ===
Electric ferries need shore chargers and a strong local grid. An EU technical study for the Azores found that fast-charging one ferry route raised peak demand on the island of Faial by 2.6 MW, about 11 per cent of its electricity use, and recommended battery storage at the port.<ref>[https://clean-energy-islands.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2025-10/CE4EUI_PicoFaialSaoJorge_TA_Electric%20ferries.pdf Mitigating the impacts of ferry electrification on the distribution grids of Faial and São Jorge], Clean Energy for EU Islands Secretariat, European Commission, October 2025, pages 4 and 14 to 16.</ref> An American naval architect, Maggie Fechter, writes that electrification pays only where route length, schedule and dwell time at the dock allow charging, and that it is hard to justify without dedicated funding.<ref>[https://www.marinelink.com/news/tech-feature-electrification-ferries-539102 Tech Feature: Electrification of Ferries], Maggie Fechter, Maritime Reporter, 12 May 2026.</ref> Candela's own published energy saving of up to 80 per cent is higher than the 66 per cent measured in Stockholm, and the P-12 is a much smaller vessel than the 150 to 300-seat catamarans the Mombasa study assumes.<ref name="candela-p12" /><ref name="candela-eval" /> Against this, the large share of fuel in the study's running costs is the strongest argument for testing an electric or hybrid vessel on the pilot route.<ref name="unh" />

== Sources ==
* [[:File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027]], County Government of Mombasa.
* [[:File:Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2024-2025.pdf|Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2024/2025]], County Government of Mombasa.
* [[:File:Auditor-General report on Kenya Ferry Services 2016-2017.pdf|Report of the Auditor-General on Kenya Ferry Services Limited, 2016/17]], Office of the Auditor-General.
* [https://unhabitat.org/sites/default/files/2026/03/un_habitat_mombasa_fs_report.pdf Feasibility Study for Coastal and Harbour Water Transportation in Mombasa], UN-Habitat and COMRED, 2026 (5 MB, linked rather than uploaded).
* [https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/12306270_02.pdf Mombasa Gate City Master Plan, Final Report Part II], JICA, 2018.
* [https://edicpwani.ke/reclaiming-time-and-mobility-through-coastal-water-transport/ Reclaiming Time and Mobility Through Coastal Water Transport], EDIC.
* [https://marinerslog.co.nz/insights-news/the-world-s-largest-electric-ferry-is-now-sailing The World's Largest Electric Ferry Is Now Sailing], Mariners Log, 2026.

== References ==
<references />

File:Mombasa electric ferry concept illustration.jpg

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:33 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Mombasa electric ferry concept illustration.jpg Hero image for Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System

New page

== Summary ==
AI-generated concept illustration of an electric solar-roofed catamaran ferry on a Mombasa creek, from the Pwani 2050 proposal by Jay Shapiro. It is an illustration of a concept, not a vessel design or an official plan. Resized to 2560 px wide.

Contributed as the hero image for [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]].

== Licensing ==
{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}

File:Auditor-General report on Kenya Ferry Services 2016-2017.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:30 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Auditor-General report on Kenya Ferry Services 2016-2017.pdf Source document for Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System

New page

== Summary ==
Report of the Auditor-General on the Financial Statements of Kenya Ferry Services Limited for the year ended 30 June 2017, Office of the Auditor-General. Covers the irregular two-ferry tender (pages 2 to 3), unverifiable toll revenue (page 3), over-expenditure on dry-docking (page 5) and the safety of the Likoni ferries (pages 5 to 6). Downloaded from https://www.oagkenya.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Kenya-Ferry-Services-Limited-2016-2017.pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2024-2025.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:06:29 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2024-2025.pdf Source document for Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System

New page

== Summary ==
Mombasa County Annual Development Plan 2024/2025, County Government of Mombasa, 2024. PDF page 127 sets water transport programme targets (feasibility study, jetties and access roads, water buses procured) and the water transport feasibility study project. Downloaded from the KIPPRA repository copy (https://repository.kippra.or.ke/handle/123456789/4494), as the county's own site does not host it.

Contributed as a source for [[Mombasa Electric Ferry and Water Transport System]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:03:04 GMT

Note that Tudor Creek Barrage also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:03, 16 October 2026
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	Contributed as a source for [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]].		Contributed as a source for [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]].

			Also cited by [[Tudor Creek Barrage]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{Government work}}		{{Government work}}

File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:03:04 GMT

Note that Tudor Creek Barrage also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:03, 16 October 2026
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	Also cited by [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]].		Also cited by [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]].

			Also cited by [[Tudor Creek Barrage]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{Government work}}		{{Government work}}

Mombasa County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:03:03 GMT

Link the Tudor Creek Barrage project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:03, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Mombasa Convention Centre]]
	* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]		* [[Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform]]
	* [[~~Mombasa Convention Centre~~]]		* [[Tudor Creek Barrage]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Tudor Creek Barrage

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:03:02 GMT

New project page for Tudor Creek Barrage, with sources, uploaded documents and counterpoints

New page

{{Hero
| image = Tudor Creek Barrage concept illustration.jpg
| alt = AI-generated concept illustration of a low barrage with arched piers across the mouth of Tudor Creek at sunset, with a landscaped park and a glazed walkway on top, dhows on the water and Fort Jesus and Mombasa Old Town on the far shore
| position = center
}}
{{Infobox project
| name = Tudor Creek Barrage (Fort Jesus to English Point)
| status = proposed
| theme = Energy
| counties = Mombasa
| lead_organisation = Pwani 2050
| partners =
| budget =
| funding_source = Not yet identified
| start_year =
| end_year =
| website =
}}

The '''Tudor Creek Barrage''' is a project within the [[Energy]] theme. It is a proposal from the Pwani 2050 plan to close the mouth of Tudor Creek in [[Mombasa County]] with a barrage about 650 m long and 30 m wide, running from Fort Jesus on Mombasa Island to English Point on the Nyali shore. The barrage would carry a walking and cycling park on top, a four-lane road tunnel inside to relieve the Nyali Bridge, and tidal turbines with batteries below, which the plan says could supply 75 per cent of Mombasa's electricity. The plan cites Singapore's Marina Barrage as a model. It is a concept only: no study, budget or sponsor exists. A first check of the energy claim against published tidal data, set out below, suggests the turbines would supply a few per cent of the coast's electricity rather than three quarters of Mombasa's, and the southern landing would fall inside the Fort Jesus World Heritage property.

== What it is ==
Tudor Creek bounds Mombasa Island on the north-west and runs about 10 km inland. A Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI) study describes a single narrow, winding inlet with a mean depth of 20 m that opens into a shallow central basin of 6.37 km² at low spring tide and 22.35 km² at high spring tide, fringed by about 8 km² of mangrove forest. It gives the spring tidal range as 3.5 m and the neap range as 1.1 to 1.3 m.<ref name="kmfri">[[:File:KMFRI Mangrove linkages to coral reef and seagrass ecosystem services in Mombasa and Takaungu.pdf|Mangrove linkages to coral reef and seagrass ecosystem services in Mombasa and Takaungu, Kenya]], J. O. Bosire, G. Okemwa and J. Ochiewo, Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, 2012, printed page 6.</ref> The Kenya Ports Authority gives Mombasa's mean high water springs as 3.5 m and its highest astronomical tide as 4.1 m above chart datum.<ref name="kpa-tide">[[:File:KPA Tide Tables and Port Information 2026.pdf|Tide Tables and Port Information 2026]], Kenya Ports Authority, December 2025, printed page 5.</ref>

The proposal combines three functions in one structure. The road tunnel would offer a second crossing of the creek beside the Nyali Bridge, a six-lane bridge of about 392 m opened in 1980 that needed major structural repairs in 2005.<ref name="nyali-wp">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyali_Bridge Nyali Bridge], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref> The park on top would follow the Marina Barrage in Singapore, whose green roof is used for events and kite flying.<ref name="pub-10">[https://www.nas.gov.sg/archivesonline/data/pdfdoc/20180213011/MB10%20media%20release.pdf A Singapore icon turns 10!], PUB, Singapore's National Water Agency, 13 February 2018, pages 1, 7 and 8.</ref> The turbines would generate electricity from the tide flowing in and out of the creek, as the barrages at La Rance in France and Sihwa Lake in South Korea do.

=== The Singapore model ===
The Marina Barrage opened on 31 October 2008 across the 350 m mouth of the Marina Channel, at a cost of S$226 million for the structure. It serves flood control, water supply and recreation: nine crest gates and seven pumps keep the sea out and turn Marina Basin into a freshwater reservoir fed by a 10,000 ha urban catchment.<ref name="mb-wp">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marina_Barrage Marina Barrage], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref><ref name="pub-10" /> It generates no tidal power. A tidal power barrage works the other way, by letting the sea in and out through turbines, so the parts of the Singapore model that transfer to Tudor Creek are the park on top and the gate engineering, not its purpose.

=== Testing the energy claim ===
The energy a tidal barrage can capture grows with the area of the basin behind it and with the square of the tidal range. La Rance, with a basin of 22.5 km², about the same as Tudor Creek at high water, has an average range of about 8 m and produces about 500 to 600 GWh a year from 240 MW of turbines.<ref name="rance">[https://tethys.pnnl.gov/sites/default/files/sites/Annex_IV_Metadata_-_La_Rance.pdf Annex IV metadata form: La Rance tidal barrage], OES-Environmental, hosted by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, 27 June 2012, page 1.</ref><ref name="rance-wp">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rance_Tidal_Power_Station Rance Tidal Power Station], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref> Tudor Creek's range is less than half of La Rance's.<ref name="kmfri" />

A rough estimate, calculated for this page from the standard formula (energy per tide of half the water density times gravity times basin area times range squared) and the KMFRI figures above, gives the following. Taking an average basin of about 14 km² and averaging the square of the range across spring and neap tides, the theoretical maximum is about 100 GWh a year. La Rance captures about 35 per cent of its own theoretical maximum, which would give Tudor Creek about 35 GWh a year, an average output of about 4 MW. Even the most generous case, the full high-water basin at the spring range all year round, gives about 95 GWh a year at La Rance's capture rate. These are order-of-magnitude figures, not a design.

For comparison, the whole Coast region, of which Mombasa is the largest consumer, used 2,087.62 GWh of electricity in the year to June 2026.<ref name="standard-epra">[https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001559029/nairobi-mombasa-and-north-eastern-major-electricity-consumers Nairobi, Mombasa and North Eastern major electricity consumers], Patrick Vidija, The Standard, 30 September 2026.</ref> On these estimates the turbines would supply roughly 2 to 5 per cent of the coast's electricity. Supplying 75 per cent of Mombasa's would need a basin roughly ten times larger or a much greater tidal range than Tudor Creek has. Batteries can shift the output to the evening peak but cannot add to it.

== Rationale ==
The plan's case is that one structure could relieve traffic on the Nyali Bridge, give the city a new public waterfront park and generate clean power. The traffic pressure is real: a second Nyali bridge of about 520 m, 500 m east of the present one, was being planned in 2018, when the existing bridge was about 38 years old and the county said at least 70 per cent of vehicles heading for the city centre came from Links Road.<ref name="bd-nyali">[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/news/plans-for-second-nyali-bridge-takes-shape-2221764 Plans for second Nyali bridge takes shape], Mohamed Ahmed, Business Daily, 3 October 2018.</ref> The county's current plan still lists a "Nyali second Bridge" among the projects envisaged by the Mombasa Gate City Master Plan.<ref name="cidp23">[[:File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027]], County Government of Mombasa, 2023, printed page 84.</ref> A 2021 review from the Technical University of Mombasa suggested that tidal barrages "can be very useful, especially in creeks along the Kenya coast, such as Mida, Kilifi, Tudor and Mtwapa creeks", while warning of their potential to harm plants and animals.<ref name="tum">[https://journals.tum.ac.ke/index.php/tummj/article/view/31 A Review of Tidal Power Potential in Kenya], Aron Oronyi Ohuru, Multidisciplinary Journal of the Technical University of Mombasa, May 2021, page 2.</ref>

== Status and timeline ==
The barrage exists only as a proposal in the Pwani 2050 plan. No feasibility study, environmental assessment, heritage impact assessment or official proposal for a barrage, tunnel or tidal plant at the mouth of Tudor Creek has been found. No government tidal resource assessment for the creek has been published. The second Nyali bridge has no reported progress since about 2020.

=== How the project would be procured ===
There is no Terms of Reference or budget. A structure combining a national road crossing, a power plant and a World Heritage setting would involve the Kenya National Highways Authority or Kenya Urban Roads Authority, the energy regulator, the National Museums of Kenya and the National Environment Management Authority, and could only proceed after a heritage impact assessment reviewed by the UNESCO World Heritage Centre (see below).

== Who is involved ==
The proposal comes from the Pwani 2050 plan. The County Government of Mombasa plans the city's crossings and waterfront.<ref name="cidp23" /> The National Museums of Kenya manages Fort Jesus. The Kenya Ports Authority publishes the tidal data,<ref name="kpa-tide" /> and KMFRI has studied the creek's hydrography and mangroves.<ref name="kmfri" />

* [https://www.museums.or.ke/ National Museums of Kenya]
* [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1295 Fort Jesus, Mombasa (UNESCO World Heritage List)]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
No one has commented in public on this proposal. The points below come from the official record on the site and from experience with tidal barrages elsewhere.

=== Heritage ===
ICOMOS's 2011 evaluation of Fort Jesus for the World Heritage List records that the property and its buffer zone were "expanded to include part of the seawaters in front of Fort Jesus and Mombasa Old Town", and that the property includes underwater archaeological remains; it named "possible future development pressures on the urban buffer zone and the erosion of the Fort's coral rock foundations" as the two main threats.<ref name="icomos">[https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1295rev.pdf Fort Jesus, Mombasa (Kenya), No 1295rev], ICOMOS evaluation, 2011, printed pages 17, 21 and 23.</ref> Kenya's nomination places the wreck of the Portuguese frigate Santo Antonio de Tanna, sunk in 1698, "just at the entrance to old Port", protected by gazette notice since 1977.<ref name="dossier">[https://whc.unesco.org/uploads/nominations/1295rev.pdf Fort Jesus nomination dossier], Government of Kenya and National Museums of Kenya, 2010, PDF pages 17 and 253.</ref> A barrage landing at the Fort would sit within the protected setting and would change the tidal currents at the Fort's foundations, for better or worse. UNESCO has acted against large crossings at other sites: Germany's Dresden Elbe Valley was removed from the World Heritage List in 2009 over a four-lane bridge,<ref>[https://news.un.org/en/node/304632 Dresden dropped from UN World Heritage List owing to new bridge], UN News, 25 June 2009.</ref> and for Kenya's own Lamu Old Town the World Heritage Committee has repeatedly asked for heritage impact assessments of LAPSSET development.<ref>[https://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/7274 Decision 42 COM 7B.45, Lamu Old Town], UNESCO World Heritage Committee, 2018.</ref>

=== Water quality, mangroves and fish ===
Tudor Creek is already under strain. It lost 86.9 per cent of its mangrove forest between 1992 and 2009, the highest rate recorded in Kenya.<ref>[https://bg.copernicus.org/articles/11/2623/2014/ Mangroves in peril: unprecedented degradation rates of peri-urban mangroves in Kenya], J. O. Bosire and others, Biogeosciences 11, 2623 to 2634, 16 May 2014.</ref> Raw sewage from Mikindani, Tudor and Old Town runs through the mangroves into the creek "every tidal cycle",<ref name="kmfri" /> and a 2011 study found Tudor the most polluted of Mombasa's sewage-impacted creeks.<ref>[https://www.vliz.be/imisdocs/publications/ocrd/243537.pdf Sewage pollution in the coastal waters of Mombasa City, Kenya: a norm rather than an exception], E. O. Okuku and others, International Journal of Environmental Research 5(4), 2011, printed page 865.</ref> Any operation that holds water behind a barrage reduces the flushing that now dilutes that sewage. At Sihwa Lake in South Korea, water quality "drastically deteriorated" after a seawall closed the bay in 1994; the government later spent more than US$1.5 billion on sewage treatment, and the tidal plant built into the wall in 2011 improved circulation but not enough for the upper lake.<ref>[https://kp652.bver.co.kr/img_up/shop_pds/kp652/contents/myboard/ja-22leeetal-2014-ocm-shihwareview.pdf Environmental and ecological effects of Lake Shihwa reclamation project in South Korea: a review], Chang-Hee Lee and others, Ocean and Coastal Management, 2014, page 1.</ref> At La Rance, the barrage caused progressive silting and the loss of marine life during construction, though by 1976 the estuary was again "richly diversified".<ref name="rance" /> The UK's Severn feasibility study predicted local extinctions of migratory fish and the loss of saltmarsh and mudflat.<ref name="severn">[https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79677fed915d07d35b5389/1._Feasibility_Study_Conclusions_and_Summary_Report_-_15_Oct.pdf Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study: Conclusions and Summary Report], Department of Energy and Climate Change, October 2010, printed pages 4 and 5.</ref>

Mombasa has a local lesson. The 1929 Makupa Causeway blocked the free flow of water between Tudor and Port Reitz creeks, which maritime consultant Andrew Mwangura said had harmed marine life for years; the county reopened it with a bridge in 2022.<ref>[https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/evewoman/amp/bridal/article/2001457928/mombasa-regains-island-status-as-bridge-is-ready Mombasa regains island status as bridge is ready], Patrick Beja, The Standard, 12 October 2022.</ref> Fishermen at Shimanzi expected better catches once water flowed freely again.<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/counties/coast/2023-10-10-fishermen-to-benefit-from-mombasas-restored-island-status Fishermen to benefit from Mombasa's restored island status], The Star, 10 October 2023.</ref> A barrage would constrain the creek's other, seaward end.

=== Navigation ===
Dhows, fishing boats, tour boats and the English Point marina all use the creek mouth that the barrage would cross. The proposal would need a navigation lock or opening span; La Rance has had a lock since 1962.<ref name="rance" /> No study of boat traffic through the Old Port has been found.

=== Cost and value ===
Tidal barrages are expensive for the power they produce. The UK government rejected the 320 MW Swansea Bay tidal lagoon in June 2018, with the Business Secretary saying it would supply about 0.15 per cent of the country's electricity and that offshore wind could provide the same power for about £400 million instead of £1.3 billion.<ref>[https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/proposed-swansea-bay-tidal-lagoon Proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon], Greg Clark, oral statement to Parliament, 25 June 2018.</ref> The Severn study concluded that other renewables and nuclear power generally offered better value.<ref name="severn" /> Kenya's grid already draws about 83 per cent of its power from clean sources, mainly geothermal, hydro, wind and solar,<ref>[[:File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf|Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 (draft)]], Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, July 2025, PDF page 7.</ref> so a small, costly tidal plant would compete with cheaper clean options. The road tunnel, by contrast, answers a real traffic problem, and could be assessed on its own merits alongside the long-planned second Nyali bridge.<ref name="bd-nyali" />

== Sources ==
* [[:File:KMFRI Mangrove linkages to coral reef and seagrass ecosystem services in Mombasa and Takaungu.pdf|Mangrove linkages to coral reef and seagrass ecosystem services in Mombasa and Takaungu, Kenya]], Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute, 2012.
* [[:File:KPA Tide Tables and Port Information 2026.pdf|Tide Tables and Port Information 2026]], Kenya Ports Authority.
* [[:File:Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027.pdf|Mombasa County Integrated Development Plan 2023-2027]], County Government of Mombasa.
* [https://whc.unesco.org/archive/advisory_body_evaluation/1295rev.pdf ICOMOS evaluation of Fort Jesus, Mombasa], 2011.
* [https://www.pub.gov.sg/-/media/Images/Feature/Content-Pages/Resources/Publications/Pdfs/MB-Marketing-DL_2210.pdf Marina Barrage visitor leaflet], PUB, Singapore, October 2008.
* [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a79677fed915d07d35b5389/1._Feasibility_Study_Conclusions_and_Summary_Report_-_15_Oct.pdf Severn Tidal Power Feasibility Study], UK Department of Energy and Climate Change, 2010.

== References ==
<references />

File:Tudor Creek Barrage concept illustration.jpg

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:03:01 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Tudor Creek Barrage concept illustration.jpg Hero image for Tudor Creek Barrage

New page

== Summary ==
AI-generated concept illustration of the proposed Tudor Creek Barrage from Fort Jesus to English Point, Mombasa, with a park and walkway on top, from the Pwani 2050 proposal by Jay Shapiro. It is an illustration of a concept, not an engineering design. Resized to 2560 px wide.

Contributed as the hero image for [[Tudor Creek Barrage]].

== Licensing ==
{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}

File:KPA Tide Tables and Port Information 2026.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:02:59 GMT

Jay uploaded File:KPA Tide Tables and Port Information 2026.pdf Source document for Tudor Creek Barrage

New page

== Summary ==
Tide Tables and Port Information 2026, Kenya Ports Authority (file created 31 December 2025). Printed page 5 (PDF page 7) gives tidal levels at Kilindini: HAT +4.1 m, MHWS +3.5 m, MSL +1.88 m, LAT -0.1 m. Downloaded from https://kpa.co.ke/web-uploads/documents/2026%20-%20KPA%20Tide%20Tables%20and%20Port%20Information.pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Tudor Creek Barrage]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:KMFRI Mangrove linkages to coral reef and seagrass ecosystem services in Mombasa and Takaungu.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:02:53 GMT

Jay uploaded File:KMFRI Mangrove linkages to coral reef and seagrass ecosystem services in Mombasa and Takaungu.pdf Source document for Tudor Creek Barrage

New page

== Summary ==
Mangrove linkages to coral reef and seagrass ecosystem services in Mombasa and Takaungu, Kenya, by J. O. Bosire, G. Okemwa and J. Ochiewo of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), 2012, a research output of a project funded by the UK Department for International Development. Printed page 6 (PDF page 10) describes Tudor Creek: basin area 6.37 km2 at low water spring and 22.35 km2 at high water spring, spring tidal range 3.5 m, neap range 1.1 to 1.3 m, about 8 km2 of mangroves and raw sewage discharge. Printed page 9 records the 86 per cent mangrove loss from 1992 to 2009. Downloaded from https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a08a8be5274a27b2000653/P-Mowtick-Mangrove-report-KMFRI.pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Tudor Creek Barrage]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:CASE STUDY FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO ESTABLISH AN EQUATORIAL - IAC.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:00:16 GMT

Note that Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:00, 16 October 2026
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	Contributed as a source for [[Lamu Spaceport]].		Contributed as a source for [[Lamu Spaceport]].

			Also cited by [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}		{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}

File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:00:16 GMT

Note that Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:00, 16 October 2026
Line 5:		Line 5:

	Also cited by [[Pwani Space University]].		Also cited by [[Pwani Space University]].

			Also cited by [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}		{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}

Tana River County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:00:15 GMT

Link the Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:00, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]]
	* [[Pwani Space University]]		* [[Pwani Space University]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Lamu County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:00:15 GMT

Link the Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant project

← Older revision		Revision as of 06:00, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
	* [[Lamu Oil Refinery]]		* [[Lamu Oil Refinery]]
			* [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]]
	* [[Lamu Spaceport]]		* [[Lamu Spaceport]]
	* [[Pwani Space University]]		* [[Pwani Space University]]

Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:00:14 GMT

New project page for Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant, with sources, uploaded documents and counterpoints

New page

{{Hero
| image = Air separation unit near Cape Canaveral.jpg
| alt = An Air Liquide air separation plant at Merritt Island, Florida, near the Cape Canaveral launch sites: a tall white cryogenic storage tank, a smaller horizontal tank and a tanker truck behind a fence. It illustrates the kind of plant proposed, not a site in Kenya.
| position = center
}}
{{Infobox project
| name = Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant (propellant supply for a Kenyan spaceport)
| status = proposed
| theme = Industry
| counties = Lamu, Tana River
| lead_organisation = Pwani 2050
| partners = None confirmed. The concept names Linde (through BOC Kenya) as a possible operator.
| budget =
| funding_source = Not yet identified
| start_year =
| end_year =
| website =
}}

The '''Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant''' is a project within the [[Industry]] theme. It is a proposal from the Pwani 2050 plan to produce liquid oxygen, the larger part of a modern rocket's propellant, for the proposed [[Lamu Spaceport]], using an air separation plant powered by solar energy, with methane for the same rockets imported as liquefied natural gas. The idea is set out in a concept note by Jay Shapiro, "Fuelling Lamu: Why Kenya is Uniquely Ready to Be the Next Spaceport" (June 2025), which argues that the coast can fuel heavy launches as well as host them. Checking the note against current sources, this page finds the plant would need four to five times the power the note estimates, and that several of the note's supporting facts have changed or cannot be traced. Those corrections are set out below beside the original figures.

== What it is ==
Rockets such as SpaceX's Starship burn liquid methane with liquid oxygen (LOX). The concept note sizes a plant for a Starship-class operation launching once a day, about 300 launches a year. It proposes a cryogenic air separation plant, modelled on the one Linde built to supply SpaceX's Starbase in Texas, powered by a 120 MWp solar farm with battery storage in Garissa County, with the LOX trucked to the launch site along the LAPSSET highway. Desalinated seawater would supply the plant, with surplus water for nearby residents. Methane would be imported as LNG through Lamu port or from a floating terminal at Mombasa.

The table compares the note's main figures with what current sources show. Figures marked "derived" are calculated on this page from the cited inputs.

{| class="wikitable"
! Item !! Concept note (June 2025) !! Current sources
|-
| Propellant per launch || 3,450 t LOX, 1,150 t methane || About 4,110 t LOX and 1,140 t methane (derived from a 3,650 t booster and a 1,600 t ship at a 3.6 to 1 mixture ratio)<ref name="wp-sh">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpaceX_Super_Heavy SpaceX Super Heavy], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026 (citing NASASpaceFlight, 30 May 2025).</ref>
|-
| LOX a year at 300 launches || About 1 million t || About 1.23 million t (derived)
|-
| Energy per tonne of oxygen || About 200 kWh || 245 kWh for high-purity gaseous oxygen;<ref name="beysel">[https://publications.ieaghg.org/docs/oxyfuel/OCC1/Plenary%201/Beysel_ASU_1stOxyfuel%20Cottbus.pdf Air Separation Units], Gerhard Beysel, Linde AG, 1st Oxyfuel Combustion Conference, Cottbus, 8 September 2009.</ref> about 915 kWh for liquid oxygen including liquefaction<ref name="shubov">[https://arxiv.org/pdf/2107.13513 Feasibility Study For Multiply Reusable Space Launch System], Mikhail V. Shubov, arXiv 2107.13513, 21 December 2021.</ref>
|-
| Continuous power for the plant || About 29 MW || About 120 to 157 MW (derived, at 700 to 915 kWh per tonne of LOX)
|-
| Renewable share of Kenya's grid || About 93 per cent || 84.93 per cent in July to December 2023;<ref name="psm">[https://publicsectormag.net/2024/04/12/kenya-84-93-of-energy-supplied-to-kenyas-national-grid-obtained-from-renewable-sources-epra-reports/ Kenya: 84.93% of energy supplied to Kenya's national grid obtained from renewable sources, EPRA reports], Public Sector Global, 12 April 2024.</ref> 80.48 per cent in 2024/25<ref name="hapa">[https://hapakenya.com/2025/09/30/epra-report-reveals-significant-growth-kenyas-energy-sector/ EPRA report reveals significant growth in Kenya's energy sector], Samson Nderi, HapaKenya, 30 September 2025.</ref>
|-
| Solar resource at Garissa || About 6 kWh per m² a day || About 5.7 kWh per m² a day, with PV output of about 4.4 kWh per kWp a day<ref name="gsa">[https://api.globalsolaratlas.info/data/lta?loc=-0.4569,39.6583 Long-term averages for Garissa], Global Solar Atlas (Solargis data), read 15 October 2026.</ref>
|-
| Output of a 120 MWp farm || Enough for 690 MWh a day || About 530 MWh a day before storage losses (derived)
|-
| Garissa to Lamu || Under 200 km || About 238 km in a straight line and about 356 km by today's roads (derived from map data)
|-
| Methane supply || A Kenya and Qatar deal for 3.2 million t a year from 2028; a Mombasa floating terminal || No such deal found; the Mombasa plan is a gas-fired power station with no supply secured<ref name="bd-gas">[https://www.businessdailyafrica.com/bd/corporate/industry/kenya-gears-up-for-tests-on-planned-natural-gas-plant-5437222 Kenya gears up for tests on planned natural gas plant], John Mutua, Business Daily, 26 April 2026.</ref>
|}

The note's "93 per cent" appears to come from its own source's figure of "84. 93%", where a stray space splits the number.<ref name="psm" /> The 200 kWh figure is for oxygen gas; turning it into liquid roughly triples or quadruples the energy needed.<ref name="beysel" /><ref name="shubov" /> On the corrected figures, the solar farm would need to be roughly 700 to 950 MWp with far more storage, several thousand acres rather than the note's 700 to 750 (derived from the land use of the existing Garissa plant, about 81 hectares for 50 MW).<ref name="pvmag">[https://www.pv-magazine.com/2017/04/21/cjic-starts-construction-of-kenyas-first-large-scale-pv-plant/ CJIC starts construction of Kenya's first large-scale PV plant], Emiliano Bellini, pv magazine, 21 April 2017.</ref>

== Rationale ==
The note's case is that Kenya can fuel launches as well as host them, and that this is a competitive advantage. It points to Linde's long presence in Kenya through BOC Kenya, founded in Mombasa in 1940 and part of the Linde Group;<ref name="boc">[https://www.boc.co.ke/our-business/overview-of-boc-kenya Overview of BOC Kenya], BOC Kenya Plc, read 15 October 2026.</ref> to Kenya's largely renewable grid; to cheap solar power in the north-east; and to Lamu's deep-water port for LNG imports. The government's own energy plan supports part of this picture: the draft National Energy Compact aims to move the grid from 83 per cent to 100 per cent clean sources by 2030, using LNG "as a transition fuel".<ref name="compact">[[:File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf|Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 (draft)]], Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, July 2025, PDF pages 2 and 5.</ref>

The note's reference model is the air separation plant Linde built near SpaceX's Starbase in Texas. That plant sits close to the launch site it serves, rather than hundreds of kilometres away, which is the main way the model differs from the concept.

== Status and timeline ==
The plant exists only as a concept. The spaceport it would serve is at the feasibility stage. The National Treasury's Terms of Reference for a transaction adviser, issued in December 2025, place the spaceport "in the general area of Kipini, between Malindi and Lamu", which is in Tana River County.<ref name="tor">[[:File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf|Terms of Reference: Transaction Advisory Services for Development of a Commercial Spaceport]], Kenya Space Agency and National Treasury, December 2025, page 3.</ref> The Terms of Reference mention solid and liquid propellant launch vehicles including sounding rockets, which suggests smaller launchers than Starship.<ref name="tor" /> Space in Africa reported in October 2026 that the PPP Directorate and the Kenya Space Agency had signed a funding agreement to onboard the transaction adviser; no launch operator has been named.<ref>[https://spaceinafrica.com/?p=147524 Kenya Advances Its Commercial Spaceport Plans With New Funding Agreement], Rihab Ben Moussa, Space in Africa, 2 October 2026.</ref>

BOC Kenya says its immediate majority shareholder is BOC Holdings of the United Kingdom, part of the Linde Group, and lists operations in Mombasa, Nairobi, Kisumu and neighbouring countries; it gives no oxygen production capacity.<ref name="boc" /> Its operations are far smaller than the proposed plant.

=== How the project would be procured ===
There is no Terms of Reference, feasibility study or budget for a propellant plant. Propellant supply would normally be settled between the spaceport operator, its launch customers and an industrial gas company, and could be folded into the spaceport public private partnership that the transaction adviser is now preparing.<ref name="tor" />

== Who is involved ==
The concept comes from the Pwani 2050 plan. The Kenya Space Agency and the National Treasury's PPP Directorate lead the spaceport.<ref name="tor" /> Linde, through BOC Kenya, is the obvious industrial gas partner but has made no statement about the idea.<ref name="boc" /> The Ministry of Energy and Petroleum sets LNG policy.<ref name="compact" />

* [https://ksa.go.ke/ Kenya Space Agency]
* [https://www.boc.co.ke/ BOC Kenya]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
No one has commented in public on this proposal. The points below come from the official record and from coverage of the places and industries it depends on.

=== Scale and power ===
The corrected power need of roughly 120 to 157 MW is comparable to a large geothermal plant, for a single customer. A plant that size would compete with the rest of the grid for clean power, and the grid's renewable share is itself partly imported: Kenya bought 1,274 GWh from Ethiopia in 2024/25.<ref name="hapa" /> Daily Starship launches from Kenya are an assumption with no operator behind it; the conference paper the note relies on argues for an equatorial spaceport in general and does not show any launch company's commitment.<ref>[[:File:CASE STUDY FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO ESTABLISH AN EQUATORIAL - IAC.pdf|Case Study for Public Private Partnership to Establish an Equatorial Spaceport]], Meshack Ndiritu and Selina Hayes, 75th International Astronautical Congress, 2024.</ref>

=== Transport and safety ===
At about 20 to 25 tonnes per road tanker, about 4,100 tonnes of LOX a day would mean roughly 165 to 205 tanker loads every day (derived). LOX is a strong oxidiser, and bulk volumes are normally made close to where they are used. The road from Garissa to Lamu is largely unbuilt: about 88 km of the first 410 km section was complete in October 2025,<ref>[https://africasustainabilitymatters.com/kenya-fast-tracks-sh28-billion-lapsset-corridor/ Kenya fast-tracks Sh28 billion LAPSSET corridor], Carlton Oloo, Africa Sustainability Matters, 7 October 2025.</ref> and the Auditor-General found the Lamu to Garissa to Isiolo highway "either not completed or is yet to start", with al-Shabaab attacks on road crews disrupting work.<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-07-27-lapsset-gamechanger-project-a-pipedream-as-key-projects-stall LAPSSET gamechanger project a pipedream as key projects stall], Eliud Kibii, The Star, 27 July 2025.</ref> Siting the plant beside the launch site, as at Starbase, would avoid the haul but move the solar farm's power onto the grid.

=== Land and communities in Garissa ===
Residents of Raya, beside the existing Garissa solar plant, protested in November 2025 that they had been pressured into giving up land, that 376 landowners hosting power lines had not been compensated, and that promised schools, a dispensary, jobs and electricity had not arrived; the report carried no government response.<ref>[https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/garissa%20county/237786/angry-raya-residents-accuse-government-of-betrayal-over-garissa-solar-project Angry Raya residents accuse Government of betrayal over Garissa solar project], Issa Hussein, Eastleigh Voice, 8 November 2025.</ref> A solar farm many times larger would fall on pastoral community land.

=== Water and methane ===
A plant of this size needs cooling water, so it would depend on new desalination on a dry coast, which adds its own power demand. On methane, no Kenya and Qatar LNG agreement of the kind the note describes could be found, and the web page the note cites for a Mombasa floating terminal now leads to an expired domain. Kenya's current LNG plan is a 1,200 MW power station at Dongo Kundu with no gas supply yet secured.<ref name="bd-gas" /> Using imported fossil methane also weakens the concept's claim to be a clean, renewable-powered operation.

== Sources ==
* [[:File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf|Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 (draft)]], Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, July 2025.
* [[:File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf|Terms of Reference for the commercial spaceport]], Kenya Space Agency and National Treasury, December 2025.
* [[:File:CASE STUDY FOR PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP TO ESTABLISH AN EQUATORIAL - IAC.pdf|Case Study for Public Private Partnership to Establish an Equatorial Spaceport]], Ndiritu and Hayes, 2024.
* Jay Shapiro, "Fuelling Lamu: Why Kenya is Uniquely Ready to Be the Next Spaceport", concept note, June 2025 (unpublished).
* [https://publications.ieaghg.org/docs/oxyfuel/OCC1/Plenary%201/Beysel_ASU_1stOxyfuel%20Cottbus.pdf Air Separation Units], Gerhard Beysel, Linde AG, 2009.

== References ==
<references />

File:Air separation unit near Cape Canaveral.jpg

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:00:14 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Air separation unit near Cape Canaveral.jpg Hero image for Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant

New page

== Summary ==
Air Liquide air separation unit (ASU) plant at Merritt Island, Florida, a few miles from Kennedy Space Center and Cape Canaveral, photographed in February 2019 by N2e and published on Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:AirLiquideASU_plant,_Florida.jpg). Resized to 2560 px wide. It illustrates the kind of plant proposed, not a site in Kenya.

Contributed as the hero image for [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]].

== Licensing ==
{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}

File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 03:00:12 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030 draft.pdf Source document for Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant

New page

== Summary ==
Kenya National Energy Compact 2025-2030, Draft 2 dated 2 July 2025, Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, State Department for Energy (file created 22 August 2025). Sets the target of moving the national grid from 83 per cent to 100 per cent clean energy by 2030 using LNG as a transition fuel (PDF pages 2, 5, 7 and 13). Downloaded from https://www.energy.go.ke/sites/default/files/Kenya%20National%20Energy%20Compact%2022AUG2025%20(1).pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Lamu Spaceport Liquid Oxygen Plant]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:57:01 GMT

Note that Pwani Space University also cites this file

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:57, 16 October 2026
Line 3:		Line 3:

	Contributed as a source for [[Lamu Spaceport]].		Contributed as a source for [[Lamu Spaceport]].

			Also cited by [[Pwani Space University]].

	== Licensing ==		== Licensing ==
	{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}		{{CC BY-SA 4.0}}

Kilifi County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:57:00 GMT

Link the Pwani Space University project

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:57, 16 October 2026
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	== What this page is for ==		== What this page is for ==
	This page is the place for what the Pwani 2050 community knows about Kilifi County: its role in the plan, the facts in the infobox with their sources, and its stated positions on contested questions (use the {{tl\|Position}} template). Write from sources you can cite; add a reference for every figure.		This page is the place for what the Pwani 2050 community knows about Kilifi County: its role in the plan, the facts in the infobox with their sources, and its stated positions on contested questions (use the {{tl\|Position}} template). Write from sources you can cite; add a reference for every figure.

			== Projects ==
			* [[Pwani Space University]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Tana River County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:57:00 GMT

Link the Pwani Space University project

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	== What this page is for ==		== What this page is for ==
	This page is the place for what the Pwani 2050 community knows about Tana River County: its role in the plan, the facts in the infobox with their sources, and its stated positions on contested questions (use the {{tl\|Position}} template). Write from sources you can cite; add a reference for every figure.		This page is the place for what the Pwani 2050 community knows about Tana River County: its role in the plan, the facts in the infobox with their sources, and its stated positions on contested questions (use the {{tl\|Position}} template). Write from sources you can cite; add a reference for every figure.

			== Projects ==
			* [[Pwani Space University]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Lamu County

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:57:00 GMT

Link the Pwani Space University project

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:57, 16 October 2026
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	== Projects ==		== Projects ==
			* [[Lamu Oil Refinery]]
	* [[Lamu Spaceport]]		* [[Lamu Spaceport]]
	* [[~~Lamu Oil Refinery~~]]		* [[Pwani Space University]]

	== Sources ==		== Sources ==
	No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.		No sources yet. Add citations with the Cite tool in the editor.

Pwani Space University

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:56:54 GMT

New project page for Pwani Space University, with sources, uploaded documents and counterpoints

New page

{{Hero
| image = Broglio Space Centre Malindi.jpg
| alt = The Italian Space Agency's building at the Luigi Broglio Space Centre in Malindi, a white single-storey building with a red tiled roof and a small tower, under a blue sky. It is an existing facility, not the site of the proposed university.
| position = center
}}
{{Infobox project
| name = Pwani Space University (proposed space-oriented university and incubator)
| status = proposed
| theme = Education and Skills
| counties = Lamu, Tana River, Kilifi
| lead_organisation = Pwani 2050
| partners = Possible partners named in the proposal: International Space University, Arizona State University School of Earth and Space Exploration, Kenya Space Agency
| budget =
| funding_source = Not yet identified
| start_year =
| end_year =
| website =
}}

The '''Pwani Space University''' is a project within the [[Education and Skills]] theme. It is a proposal from the Pwani 2050 plan for a new university on the north coast, built around the proposed [[Lamu Spaceport]], that would teach astronomy, physics and engineering and host incubation space for space start-ups, on the model of Singapore's Biopolis research hub. The plan suggests partnering with the International Space University, whose French campus closed in July 2026, and with Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration. It is a concept only: no site, budget, sponsor or partner agreement exists, and the spaceport it would serve is itself at the feasibility stage.

== What it is ==
The Pwani 2050 plan places the university at the northern end of its coastal development corridor, alongside the spaceport, public viewing galleries, hotels for visiting staff and the public, and "space startups incubation facilities" which it compares to Singapore's Biopolis. The university's proposed subjects are astronomy, physics and engineering. This page treats the incubator as part of the same project.

The plan describes the spaceport as being in Manda Bay, Lamu. The Kenya Space Agency's own Terms of Reference for the spaceport place it instead "in the general area of Kipini, between Malindi and Lamu", to be developed as a public private partnership under the PPP Act, 2021.<ref name="tor">[[:File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf|Terms of Reference: Transaction Advisory Services for Development of a Commercial Spaceport]], Kenya Space Agency, December 2025, page 3.</ref> Kipini lies at the mouth of the Tana River,<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipini Kipini], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref> which is why this page lists Tana River County alongside Lamu and Kilifi. Where the university would go therefore depends on where the spaceport is finally sited.

=== The proposed partners ===
The International Space University (ISU) was founded in 1987 and ran its central campus at Illkirch-Graffenstaden, near Strasbourg, where it taught a Master of Space Studies, while its summer Space Studies Program moves to a different host city each year.<ref name="isu-wp">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Space_University International Space University], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref> On 7 July 2026 the Strasbourg court ordered the judicial liquidation of ISU France, the association that ran the campus, after rejecting a proposal from staff to keep it going.<ref name="messier1">[https://douglasmmessier.substack.com/p/isu-central-campus-liquidated ISU Central Campus Liquidated, Replaced by ISU Global], Douglas Messier, 8 July 2026.</ref> Its management announced that it ceased all activity on 17 July 2026.<ref>[https://douglasmmessier.substack.com/p/isu-france-ceases-operations ISU France Ceases Operations], Douglas Messier, 18 July 2026 (reproducing the management's open letter of 17 July 2026).</ref> Accounts attribute the collapse to cuts in support from the French space agency CNES, the European Space Agency and local government; about 20 staff lost their jobs.<ref name="jde">[https://www.lejournaldesentreprises.com/breve/linternational-space-university-liquidee-leurometropole-de-strasbourg-cherche-un-repreneur-pour-le-2146708 L'International Space University liquidée, l'Eurométropole de Strasbourg cherche un repreneur pour le site], Le Journal des Entreprises, 16 July 2026.</ref>

The wider ISU continues through its Massachusetts parent. Co-founder Bob Richards describes it as "the mothership", and an "ISU Global" initiative launched shortly before the liquidation aims to build a network of affiliate campuses and partners.<ref name="payload">[https://payloadspace.com/isu-founder-shares-a-vision-beyond-liquidation/ ISU Founder Shares a Vision Beyond Liquidation], Douglas Gorman, Payload, July 2026.</ref> ISU Global's website states that its campus initiative is "open to academic institutions, accredited universities, national space agencies and local governments to establish ISU regional hubs and affiliate campuses".<ref name="isuglobal">[https://www.isu.global/#partner ISU Global Partnership Registry], International Space University, read 15 October 2026.</ref> That invitation is the clearest opening for a Kenyan proposal. It comes with a caution: a separate group of former faculty is trying to rebuild ISU in Strasbourg as a cooperative, and commentators have flagged a possible dispute over who holds the ISU name.<ref>[https://douglasmmessier.substack.com/p/strasbourg-group-plans-revival-of Strasbourg Group Plans Revival of ISU France], Douglas Messier, 12 July 2026.</ref> No African partner or new campus has been announced under ISU Global.<ref name="payload" />

Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) was founded in 2006, is directed by the geologist Ramón Arrowsmith, and led NASA's Psyche asteroid mission; in 2022 the US Space Force made ASU a member of its University Partnership Program.<ref name="sese">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/School_of_Earth_and_Space_Exploration School of Earth and Space Exploration], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref> ASU's documented ties with Kenya are real but sit outside space science. In 2018 ASU signed a collaboration agreement with Kenyatta University covering exchanges and research,<ref>[https://news.asu.edu/20190513-collaborative-symposium-welcomes-asu-partnership-kenyatta-university Collaborative symposium welcomes ASU partnership with Kenyatta University], Kimberly Koerth, ASU News, 13 May 2019.</ref> and in December 2022 ASU's Thunderbird School of Global Management and the Konza Technopolis Development Authority announced a partnership, in the presence of President William Ruto, whose listed areas include "space leadership".<ref>[https://news.asu.edu/node/94856 ASU Thunderbird celebrates new partnership with Kenya to accelerate 100 Million Learners Global Initiative], Dasi Styles, ASU News, 15 December 2022.</ref> ASU also hosts Mastercard Foundation Scholars, including Kenyans.<ref>[https://news.asu.edu/20250918-local-national-and-global-affairs-asu-supports-mastercard-foundation-scholars-across ASU supports Mastercard Foundation Scholars across Africa], ASU News, 18 September 2025.</ref> No link between SESE itself and a Kenyan institution has been found.

=== The model ===
Biopolis opened at Singapore's one-north district in 2003 and co-locates the public research institutes of A*STAR with corporate laboratories; it grew to 13 buildings housing more than 2,500 scientists, and A*STAR credits its success to co-location and public private partnership.<ref name="biopolis">[https://research.a-star.edu.sg/articles/features/biopolis-ten-years-on/ Biopolis: Ten years on], A*STAR Research, 19 November 2013.</ref> Biopolis sits beside an established research university and hospital system. A site near Kipini or Lamu would have neither, which is the main difference between the model and the proposal.

== Rationale ==
The case rests on the spaceport. The Kenya Space Agency's strategic plan for 2023 to 2027 lists among the agency's functions capacity building in space science and engineering, support for "incubation and nurturing of start-ups", promotion of space education, and the commercialisation of infrastructure "such as spaceport".<ref name="ksasp">[https://ksa.go.ke/assets/files/Final-EditKSASPPOPULARVERSION.pdf Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (popular version)], Kenya Space Agency, 2023.</ref> The draft Kenya Space Bill, 2024 would let the agency "establish space research and training centres" and direct it to "promote space science and technology education programs in institutions of higher learning".<ref name="bill">[[:File:Kenya Space Bill 2024 second draft.pdf|Kenya Space Bill, 2024 (reviewed second draft)]], Kenya Space Agency, February 2024, PDF page 15, section 26.</ref> The spaceport's own Terms of Reference, by contrast, provide training only for "at least fifteen (15) Public officials" on the project team.<ref name="tor" /> A university and incubator would fill a gap that the official documents name but do not fund.

The coast already has a foundation to build on. The Luigi Broglio Space Centre at Malindi is the Italian Space Agency's base outside Italy, where the San Marco platforms launched satellites between 1967 and 1988 and which now receives satellite data and tracks launches; the Italian Space Agency describes plans for an International Center for Space Education in Africa there.<ref name="asi">[https://www.asi.it/en/the-agency/the-space-centers/luigi-broglio-space-center Luigi Broglio Space Center], Italian Space Agency, read 15 October 2026.</ref> At a joint steering committee in Rome in April 2026, Kenya's Ministry of Defence reported that 13 Kenyans were pursuing doctorates in Earth observation under the Italy and Kenya agreement, that 15 Kenyans a year would be sponsored for postgraduate study in Italy, and that the agreement runs to 2035.<ref name="mod-rome">[https://www.mod.go.ke/news/ps-defence-leads-kenyan-delegation-in-rome-italy/ PS Defence Leads Kenyan Delegation in Rome, Italy], Ministry of Defence, 3 April 2026.</ref> Kenyan university teams built the country's first nanosatellite, 1KUNS-PF, deployed from the International Space Station in May 2018, and Kenyan engineers built Taifa-1, launched in April 2023.<ref name="ksasp" />

== Status and timeline ==
The university exists only as a proposal in the Pwani 2050 plan. The Kenya Space Agency was established by the Kenya Space Agency Order, 2017,<ref>[https://ksa.go.ke/ksa-our-mandate.html Our Mandate], Kenya Space Agency, read 15 October 2026.</ref> and issued its Terms of Reference for a transaction adviser on the spaceport in December 2025.<ref name="tor" /> In October 2026 Space in Africa reported that the PPP Directorate and the agency had signed a funding agreement marking the formal onboarding of a transaction adviser, who was not named.<ref>[https://spaceinafrica.com/?p=147524 Kenya Advances Its Commercial Spaceport Plans With New Funding Agreement], Rihab Ben Moussa, Space in Africa, 2 October 2026.</ref> The space bill that would give the agency its training role has not been found among enacted laws. No approach to ISU Global, ASU or any Kenyan university about this proposal has been made public.

=== How the project would be procured ===
There is no Terms of Reference, feasibility study or budget for a space university. The proposal could take the form of a programme or campus within an existing chartered university, an ISU affiliate hub under the ISU Global invitation, or a training centre established by the Kenya Space Agency if the space bill passes.<ref name="isuglobal" /><ref name="bill" />

== Who is involved ==
The proposal comes from the Pwani 2050 plan. The Kenya Space Agency, a state corporation under the Ministry of Defence, leads the spaceport and has the mandate to promote space education.<ref name="ksasp" /> The International Space University and Arizona State University's School of Earth and Space Exploration are named in the proposal as possible partners; neither has been approached publicly. The Italian Space Agency's Malindi centre and the University of Nairobi's space science work are the nearest existing institutions.<ref name="asi" />

* [https://ksa.go.ke/ Kenya Space Agency]
* [https://www.isu.global/#partner International Space University (ISU Global)]
* [https://sese.asu.edu/ ASU School of Earth and Space Exploration]

== Concerns and counterpoints ==
No one has yet commented in public on this proposal. The points below are the main critiques of space spending in developing countries, of new universities in Kenya and of the north coast as a site, and are given as general context.

=== Public money and priorities ===
Critics of African space programmes have long asked whether governments should spend on space while most citizens are poor; a 2016 Daily Mail report by Ian Birrell, republished by IOL, quoted the British TaxPayers' Alliance objecting to aid for countries that run space programmes.<ref>[https://iol.co.za/news/2016-04-18-africas-mad-dash-to-space/ Africa's mad dash to space], Ian Birrell, IOL (from the Daily Mail), April 2016.</ref> Kenya's own space budget is tight: in February 2025 the Principal Secretary for Defence asked Parliament for adequate funding to build "a state-of-the-art space Centre".<ref>[https://www.mod.go.ke/news/defence-ps-asks-parliament-for-adequate-funding-to-enhance-kenyas-space-capabilities/ Defence PS asks Parliament for adequate funding to enhance Kenya's space capabilities], Ministry of Defence, 21 February 2025.</ref> Supporters reply that space capacity serves Earth observation, agriculture and disaster response, which is the emphasis of the Kenya Space Agency's own plan.<ref name="ksasp" />

=== The state of Kenya's universities ===
Ishmael Munene wrote in 2016 that about 70 per cent of Kenya's 33 public universities had been created in 2012 and 2013, many as "cheap, low-quality satellite campuses", and that the regulator lacked the capacity to enforce standards.<ref>[https://theconversation.com/kenyas-universities-are-in-the-grip-of-a-quality-crisis-54664 Kenya's universities are in the grip of a quality crisis], Ishmael Munene, The Conversation, 16 February 2016.</ref> In July 2025 Treasury Cabinet Secretary John Mbadi said the government could no longer fund universities at current levels and proposed staff cuts and the sale of satellite campuses.<ref>[https://citizen.digital/article/universities-facing-cash-crisis-as-mass-layoffs-closure-of-satellite-campuses-loom-n366904 Universities facing cash crisis as mass layoffs, closure of satellite campuses loom], Mary Muoki, Citizen Digital, 24 July 2025.</ref> A new standalone university would compete for the same shrinking public money, which argues for building on an existing institution or an ISU hub rather than chartering a new one.

=== Partners and site ===
ISU's own collapse shows the risk of depending on agency subsidies, and its future direction is contested.<ref name="jde" /><ref name="payload" /> The north coast has a difficult security record. Al-Shabaab attacked the Manda Bay airfield and Camp Simba in January 2020,<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Simba_attack Camp Simba attack], Wikipedia, read 15 October 2026.</ref> and the Auditor-General found in 2025 that the LAPSSET highway from Lamu towards Garissa and Isiolo was either unfinished or not yet started, with militant attacks on road crews disrupting work.<ref>[https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2025-07-27-lapsset-gamechanger-project-a-pipedream-as-key-projects-stall LAPSSET gamechanger project a pipedream as key projects stall], Eliud Kibii, The Star, 27 July 2025.</ref> Both bear on recruiting international staff and students. The spaceport itself has no named launch customer,<ref name="tor" /> so a university planned around it would be ahead of the demand it is meant to serve.

== Sources ==
* [[:File:Kenya Space Bill 2024 second draft.pdf|Kenya Space Bill, 2024 (reviewed second draft)]], Kenya Space Agency, February 2024.
* [[:File:TERMS-OF-REFERENCE-TRANSACTION-ADVISORY-SERVICES-FOR-DEVELOPMENT-OF-A-COMMERCIAL-SPACEPORT-DECEMBER-20.pdf|Terms of Reference for the commercial spaceport]], Kenya Space Agency, December 2025.
* [https://ksa.go.ke/assets/files/Final-EditKSASPPOPULARVERSION.pdf Kenya Space Agency Strategic Plan 2023-2027 (popular version)], Kenya Space Agency (34 MB, linked rather than uploaded).
* [https://www.isu.global/#partner ISU Global Partnership Registry], International Space University.
* [https://www.asi.it/en/the-agency/the-space-centers/luigi-broglio-space-center Luigi Broglio Space Center], Italian Space Agency.
* [https://research.a-star.edu.sg/articles/features/biopolis-ten-years-on/ Biopolis: Ten years on], A*STAR.

== References ==
<references />

File:Kenya Space Bill 2024 second draft.pdf

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:56:54 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Kenya Space Bill 2024 second draft.pdf Source document for Pwani Space University

New page

== Summary ==
The Kenya Space Bill, 2024, reviewed second draft, published by the Kenya Space Agency (PDF created 5 February 2024). A draft, not an enacted law. Section 26 (PDF page 15) lets the Agency establish space research and training centres and directs it to promote space education in institutions of higher learning. Downloaded from https://www.ksa.go.ke/assets/files/REVIEWED--SECONDDRAFTKENYASPACEBILL2024.pdf

Contributed as a source for [[Pwani Space University]].

== Licensing ==
{{Government work}}

File:Broglio Space Centre Malindi.jpg

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 02:56:53 GMT

Jay uploaded File:Broglio Space Centre Malindi.jpg Hero image for Pwani Space University

New page

== Summary ==
The Italian Space Agency (ASI) building at the Luigi Broglio Space Centre, Malindi, Kenya, photographed on 14 February 2018 by Juan Kulichevsky and published on Flickr (https://www.flickr.com/photos/10644906@N04/40407193701/), via Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Broglio_Space_Centre_(40407193701).jpg). Resized to 2560 px wide. It shows an existing facility, not the site of the proposed university.

Contributed as the hero image for [[Pwani Space University]].

== Licensing ==
Licensed under the [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/ Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic licence]. Credit: Juan Kulichevsky.

Tea Value Addition SME Export Enablement Platform

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 01:45:53 GMT

Superficial edit so the approved revision is translated again and its hero photo reaches the front door

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Mombasa Convention Centre

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 01:45:53 GMT

Superficial edit so the approved revision is translated again and its hero photo reaches the front door

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	\| alt = AI-generated concept illustration of a curving convention centre with tusk-shaped arches, a solar roof and zebra-patterned facade on the Mombasa waterfront, with exhibition tents and lorries in the foreground		\| alt = AI-generated concept illustration of a curving convention centre with tusk-shaped arches, a solar roof and zebra-patterned facade on the Mombasa waterfront, with exhibition tents and lorries in the foreground
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Lamu Spaceport

Jay — Fri, 16 Oct 2026 01:45:53 GMT

Superficial edit so the approved revision is translated again and its hero photo reaches the front door

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	\| image = Lamu Spaceport.png		\| image = Lamu Spaceport.png
	\| alt = Illustration of a spaceport terminal and control tower among green coastal bush beside a river		\| alt = Illustration of a spaceport terminal and control tower among green coastal bush beside a river
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