Moi International Airport eyes higher exports volume with new cargo hub

Construction work for a new cargo handling centre at the Moi International Airport in Mombasa began last Thursday in a move expected to raise export volumes channelled through the facility.

According to the newly appointed executive director for GN Cargo, Abdishakur Jama, the company has been making preparations for the container freight station (CFS) including the mobilisation of financial resources

“From September 1, everything has been in place and construction began. It should take 18 months,” said Mr Jama in an interview.

To carry out the project for the CFS, the Kenyan company has partnered with a Dubai-based firm. The station will be called GN Cargo Service Centre.

The centre will have capacity to store at least 760 tonnes of cargo per day at the beginning. This is expected to be increased later.

The partnership in the project involved Sheikh Mohamed, a Dubai-based member of one of the royal families in the United Arab Emirates with business interests in various sectors including banking and hospitality.

Mr Jama said the cargo centre project would cost Sh400 million. It is supposed to be a cold storage facility with a capacity to handle both imports and exports.

“We plan to upgrade the facility later which will involve spending up to Sh1 billion to enable the centre handle more cargo,” he said.

The contract to put up the centre has been given to GN Cargo Kenya by the Kenya Airports Authority.

The CFS will target raising fish and meat exports to the Middle East and Asian countries.

Besides exports, the centre will facilitate bringing in imports of dry cargo including mobile phones, electronics and shoes.

Mr Jama said a key rationale for the project is to increase exports which have traditionally been much lower than imports.

In 2015, Kenya exported Sh580 billion in total but imported a hefty Sh1.6 trillion worth of goods, meaning that trade was basically skewed in favour of foreigners.

The cargo centre is being built to take advantage of the increased business between Kenya and foreign countries.
“We know there is demand for Kenyan exports out there, but we don’t have enough cold storage facilities. That is why we are doing this project,” said Mr Jama.

GN Cargo directors have been involved in clearing a forwarding businesses for several decades, giving them the supply and demand connections needed to keep the container freight handling facility running.

To begin with, the Dubai-based partners will regularly export to Kenya large amounts of goods for storage at the facility ahead of being sold locally.