By John Oyuke

Mombasa, Kenya, September 18, 2010 – Operations at the port of Mombasa are set to improve with the expected opening of a new dry port being constructed by logistics company SDV Transami.

The French company, a subsidiary of Bollore Africa Logistics plans to open the Sh700 million Mombasa Container Terminal next month, in a move it said would ease congestion at the port and save traders costs associated with delays.

SDV Transami Regional Director, East Africa, Tony Stenning said the station would boost performance of the port, especially when Kenya’s economic growth is on the rise.

"With a renewed economic growth and rising business volume, Mombasa Port is ready to increase its competitiveness for the benefit of the East African region," he said.

Stenning said the terminal would employ 300 Kenyans who would be trained by BollorÈ Africa Logistics to meet the expectations of clients.

He told journalists that SDV Transami has participated in the economic development of Kenya through knowledge transfer and export of coffee over the years.

Stenning said recently, SDV Transami Kenya was called upon to demobilise its heavy lift division to Djibouti to perform the specialised forwarding for El Sewedy.

El Sewedy is a leading cables manufacturer and trading business group in Africa based in Egypt.

"In East Africa, it was only in Kenya that had the know-how and equipment required to fulfil the conditions of the contract," Stenning explained.

Bollore Africa Logistics, which held a conference in Nairobi last week also announced that it won a tender to develop the Port of Berbera in self-declared state of Somaliland to help land-locked Ethiopia ease its maritime and port services needs.

Chief Executive, Dominique Lafont, said one of the major challenges for the region is to penetrate the Horn of Africa, particularly the Ethiopian market.

Source: The Standard

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