East Africa: Kenya

This weekend I read an article titled “KPA, Trademark East Africa partner to improve port efficiency”. I found this article at the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation online and it was published on February 2, 2014. This article is about Kenya using the 53 million dollars it received from the United Kingdom and the Netherlands for infrastructure and facilities improvement(about 451 million in shillings which are the Kenyan currency) to enhance the Mombasa Port, Kenya’s largest.

Before going into more depth on the article I would like to give a little more background on Kenya. Kenya is a country in East Africa along with Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, and Tanzania. Kenya has average temperatures ranging from 50 to 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Kenya usually has cool at night and early morning; it has warm days. Kenya also has one of the biggest and most advanced economies in Eastern Africa. However, it is still retains a large amount people in poverty. Kenya is also a part of the EAC, or the East African Community, which also includes Uganda and Tanzania.     

                In more specific terms, KPA and other businesses that showed interest in the Mombasa Port developed a Mombasa Port Community Charter to guide trade through and these businesses also hope to improve the infrastructure of the port (cargo clearance speed and customs clearance efficiency). The President of Kenya, Mr. Kenyatta, is planning to launch the charter later in the month. The goals set by the charter include: the Mombasa Port becoming a high performance landlord port by 2016; all of the workers become members of the Kenya National Electronic single window system by December, 2014; and  the community coming together to complement the individual institutional service charters to address issues and improve efficiency.

                I sincerely hope that all goes well at the Mombasa Port in Kenya. The success of the Mombasa port should help to lessen poverty in Kenya and benefit the overall economy.  I am glad that President Kenyatta has remained committed to the Mombasa Port’s success and I hope it will have great success. I am very proud of the United Kingdom and the Netherlands for their support of Kenya. The motto of Kenya is “Harambee” which when translated into English means “Let us all pull together” or “Let us all pool together” depending on how it’s said/translated, but I think that if we all follow that motto to its truest intent then we can make everyone’s lives just a little bit better.