East Africa's three major deep-water ports, Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, and Lamu, compete for cargo destined for landlocked Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC's eastern provinces, and South Sudan. Mombasa handles approximately 1.64 million TEUs annually and serves the Northern Corridor. Dar es Salaam handles around 900,000 TEUs through the Central Corridor. Lamu, still ramping up under the LAPSSET development, is entering as a new competitor. Each port has advantages and disadvantages: Mombasa has better vessel frequency but higher congestion; Dar has Tanzania's SGR railway; Lamu has the deepest channel and newest facilities.
Shipper Decision Factors
For landlocked country importers, port choice is driven by: total transit time (Mombasa to Kigali takes 8 to 12 days; Dar to Kigali takes 10 to 14 days), total logistics cost (Mombasa-Nairobi rail is cheaper per tonne-km than road), and reliability during disruptions. DRC importers are increasingly using Beira in Mozambique for Southern Katanga cargo. Detailed port comparison data, clearing agent contacts, and corridor cost benchmarks are available on intra-africa.com.
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