Mombasa Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility

Multi-Commodity Common-User Facility (agrilogistics), Shimanzi and Miritini
Project
Status	proposed
Theme	Ports & Logistics
Pillar	Economic Development
Counties	Mombasa
Lead organisation	Economic Development and Investment Council for Greater Mombasa
Partners	None named
Funding source	Private investment sought; no structure published
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". 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". 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. Bulkstream says it also moves grain by the standard gauge railway to its own inland terminal at Embakasi in Nairobi.

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.

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. 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. Kenya imported KSh 58.5 billion of chemical fertiliser and KSh 55.1 billion of rice in 2025. 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. 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. 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. 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. The Supreme Court's ruling on the Portside licence means any facility on port land would need open, competitive procurement.

Who is involved

EDIC is a multi-stakeholder council for Greater Mombasa chaired by Dr Kevit Desai. The Kenya Ports Authority controls port land and berths. Bulkstream operates the existing grain and fertiliser terminal at Shimanzi. The National Cereals and Produce Board receives government fertiliser imports through Mombasa. No operator or investor has been named.

• 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. A facility at Miritini near the railway, rather than at Shimanzi, would sit on the same fault line between rail and road.

Sources

• Kenya Ports Authority Performance Contract 2025/26, Kenya Ports Authority.
• Kenya Facts and Figures 2026, Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.
• 21st Northern Corridor Transport Observatory Report 2025, NCTTCA.
• Our Priorities, EDIC.