Kenya--Transportation
Ports
Kenya's extensive transport system
accommodates travel by road, rail,
coastal and inland water and air.
Full container-handling facilities
are in operation at Mombasa, the
chief port, handling a volume of
containers that expanded from 50,000
20-ft equivalent units (TEU) in
1982 to nearly 103,000 TEU in 1985.
An up-to-date container-handling
operation opened in 1983; and the
country's first inland clearance
depot for containers began operating
at Embakasi near Nairobi in 1984.
Mombasa provides access to the Indian
Ocean for several land-locked countries
and regions in East Africa, including
Uganda, eastern Zaire, Burundi and
Rwanda. Unfortunately, Mombasa's
port efficiency has declined in
recent years due to over-staffing
and poor productivity; it is also
experiencing increased competition
from the modernized facilities in
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Airways
Kenya Airways has operated an independent
national and international air service
since the break-up of East African
Airlines in 1977. International
airports at Nairobi and Mombasa
handled over 2.52 million commercial
passengers and some 61,900 tons
of freight in 1988. Provisional
figures for 1990 show that the number
of passengers and the amount of
freight has risen to 2.65 million
and 66,400 tons respectively. In
addition to these locations, airports
at Malindi, Kisumu and Embakasi
are capable of handling international
traffic. Rural areas are served
by hundreds of airstrips. In 1986
a private air company founded African
Express Airways Kenya Limited to
transport horticultural products
to Europe as well as to work routes
not already covered by the national
airline. In December 1994, a third
international airport was underway
at Eldoret in the Rift Valley Province
under a KSh3.7bn ($66 million) contract.
The project was not, however, popular
with donors, who were under-informed
about the project's course even
shortly before the official announcement
of construction plans. In mid-1995,
the plan was scaled down because
of problems securing external financing.
Despite these problems, the first
flight landed in November 1996.
Since then, authorities have failed
to secure commitments from airlines
for the regular use of the airport.
The
national carrier, Kenya Airways
(KA), was the first African airline
to be privatized. A ceremony held
in Nairobi in January 1996 marked
the sale of 26% of the company's
shares to KLM Royal Dutch Airlines.
Airline staff have 3% of equity,
while 34% has been sold through
the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE)
to Kenyan interests. International
investors have acquired a 14% stake,
and the government retains 23%.
Railways
The Kenya Railways Corporation operates
about 1,937 km of railway tracks,
including the principal line from
Mombasa through Nairobi, and on
to western Kenya and to points in
Tanzania and Uganda. The railroad
system is meter-gauge and virtually
all single-track. A three-year project
to improve Kenya Railways Corporation's
operation, whose primary aim was
to increase the railway's competitiveness
in the freight market, was launched
in 1987.
Roads
Kenya's road system consists of
8,621 km of bituminous roads, 26,000
km of gravel roads and 28,406 km
of unpaved roads. Most roads, including
the main arterials in the cities,
are in poor shape. Roads linking
the coast with the interior are
in particularly poor shape due to
overloading and poor maintenance
of vehicles. A network of bus and
minibus services covers the whole
country, but service to rural areas
remains rudimentary. A 590-km road
between Lodwar and Juba, in Southern
Sudan, providing the first all-weather
road link between the two countries,
has been completed. A rebuilding
project, whose goal is to improve
175 km of Kenyan roads along the
`northern corridor,' aims to improve
access between land-locked regions
and the port in Mombasa. [1]
Statistical
indicators: (by 1000's unless otherwise
indicated)
Year
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
RAIL:
Passenger traffic (no.):
2,507
2,426
1,911
1,624
2,379
RAIL:
Freight (000 tons):
2,821
2,310
1,901
2,090
1,827
ROAD:
New motor vehicles (no.)
14,784
12,420
17,928
22,224
28,664
SHIPPING:
Freight handled at Mombasa
harbor 1000 tons
7,893
7,917
8,269
7,973
8,694
Source:
The Economist Intelligence Unit,
1998, Country Profile. Kenya, The
Unit: London, p. 44.
Railways:
total: 2,652 km
narrow gauge: 2,652 km 1.000-m gauge
Highways:
total: 63,800 km
paved: 8,868 km
unpaved: 54,932 km (1996 est.)
Waterways:
part of the Lake Victoria system
is within the boundaries of Kenya
Pipelines:
petroleum products 483 km
Ports
and harbors: Kisumu, Lamu, Mombasa
Merchant
marine:
total: 2 ships (1,000 GRT or over)
totaling 4,883 GRT/6,255 DWT
ships by type: oil tanker 1, roll
on/roll off 1 (1997 est.)
Airports:
240 (1997 est.)
Airports–with
paved runways:
total: 29
over 3,047 m: 3
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 2
914 to 1,523 m: 22
under 914 m: 1 (1997 est.)
Airports–with
unpaved runways:
total: 211
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 13
914 to 1,523 m: 114
under 914 m: 83 (1997 est.)
Source:
CIA World Fact Book
[1]
1992. Africa South of the Sahara,
p. 446.