The Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zones project in Mombasa will be complete within the next 24 months, President William Ruto has said.
Ruto said he has already issued instructions to the relevant ministries and developers to keep to the timelines.
He said the project, and his decision to return all port operations transferred to Nairobi and Naivasha Inland Container Depots to Mombasa, will spur immense development at the coastal city.
“We returned port operations and Mombasa is already returning to it glorious past. The place was looking like an abandoned city,” he said.
Ruto spoke during the ground-breaking ceremony of Mtwapa-Kwa Kadgengo- Kilifi Road on Saturday.
He was accompanied by Cabinet Secretaries Aisha Jumwa (Public Service, Gender and Affirmative Action), Kipchumba Murkomen (Roads, Transport and Public Works) and Salim Mvurya (Mining, Blue Economy and Maritime Affairs) and Governors Gideon Mung’aro (Kilifi) and Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir (Mombasa).
Ruto said the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zones will create of 100, 000 jobs.
“I give a commitment that inside 24 months, the project that will provide opportunities for the coastal region, must be completed soon so that we can actualise the dreams of many people,” he said.
Dongo Kundu will comprise an export-processing zone, industrial parks, free trade zones and other auxiliary services such as tourism, meeting, conferencing and exhibitions.
It will also have zoned residential areas for workers.
The zone, aimed at attracting a more significant share of foreign direct investment and exports, as well as jobs, is being developed under the Ministry of Industrialisation
Kenya faces competition from the central corridor from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania through Serengeti to DRC Congo.
The project at the Mombasa port doorstep is intended to enhance export volumes from Kenya, as part of its export promotion programmes.
The zone is one of the components of the Mombasa Port Development Project, a succession of projects aimed at expanding the capacity of the port and enhancing logistics along the Northern Economic Corridor.
