KPA boss Danson Mungatana tells African countries to expand ports

Kenya Ports Authority chairman Danson Mungatana at a past event. Mr Mungatana has called for African countries to expand their ports. FILE PHOTO | KEVIN ODIT  NATION MEDIA GROUP

In Summary

• Kenya Ports Authority chairman Danson Mungatana said bigger berths were needed to handle the bigger ships being built.
• He also called for the use of modern technology and equipment to benefit from the increased maritime trade.

By NATION CORRESPONDENT
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African countries should expand their ports to tap the global maritime trade, which is increasingly turning to larger ships.

Speaking on Tuesday, Kenya Ports Authority chairman Danson Mungatana said bigger berths were needed to handle the bigger ships being built.

He also called for the use of modern technology and equipment to benefit from the increased maritime trade.

“The steady increase in ship sizes, coupled with growing cargo volumes, has put pressure on cargo infrastructure and terminal capacities the world over, in particular for African ports, which have capacity constraints and poor transport infrastructure,”  Mr Mungatana said.

He was addressing delegates from various countries in the region during the East Africa Transport Infrastructure Conference held at the Nairobi Hilton.

CARGO CAPACITY

In 1996, for example, the largest vessel had a capacity of 4,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), rising to 6,000 TEUs in 2001 and 16,000 TEUs in 2011.

TEUs is a unit of cargo used to measure the capacity of ships and container terminals. The change has been driven by increased trade.

“Over the past decade, global maritime business has been expanding. It is expected to grow by an average 7.5 per cent over the next six years to around 840 million TEUs in 2016. In fact, most African ports are experiencing 10-12 per cent growth,” Mr Mungatana said.