Transport and Infrastructure

The transport sector in Kenya is under the supervision of the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. A key task of this Ministry is to position Kenya as the logistics hub of the region by creating a modern and efficient transport system for goods and services within the counties and also with other countries in the region. The sector is crucial for promoting socio-economic activities and development. Its systems comprise of road, rail, air and maritime.

Kenya has been making considerable headway over the past few years on a development agenda designed to strengthen its position as the number one regional transport and logistics centre for Eastern Africa. A key component of Kenya’s infrastructure ambitions is the Lamu Port-Southern Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor project (Lapsset), a €21.6 billion development stretching from northern Kenya across East Africa. Elsewhere, the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) will connect Mombasa to Malaba on the border with Uganda, and its first phase from the coast to Nairobi was completed and launched in mid-2017.

While significant gains have been made in developing infrastructure over the last five years, there is further room to enhance Kenya’s competitiveness. This is being done through the expansion of major airports such as Jomo Kenyatta International Airport and construction of new airports such as Isiolo Airport.

Work is also ongoing to expand the country’s road transport network by building 10,000 km of tarmac roads through annuity financing within five years. This project seeks to create more links between productive areas while accommodating the increased vehicle traffic that Kenya has registered over the last decade. The Government is also considering the development of a light railway system that will serve Nairobi and its suburbs.

The EAC region is also exploring possibilities of adopting the Transports Internationaux Routiers (TIR) Carnet system since the region is already a single custom territory. TIR is governed under the TIR Convention, 1975, which is managed and administered by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The TIR Convention permits the international carriage of goods by road from one customs office of departure in one country to a customs office of destination in another country, through as many countries as required, without any intermediate frontier checks of the goods carried, unless customs authorities decide otherwise. The International Road Transport Union (IRU) has been authorised to distribute the international Customs transit and guarantee document, the TIR Carnet, and to manage the international guarantee.

Additional information on the Transport Infrastructure Sector in Kenya can be found on www.transport.go.ke.