President William Ruto has said Kenya plans to position the Mombasa Special Economic Zone as a major manufacturing, processing and export hub serving the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), as the country seeks to increase production and capture a larger share of the continental market.
Speaking at State House, Nairobi, during the signing of an agreement for the development of the Mombasa Special Economic Zone, Ruto said Africa's free trade agreement would only deliver its full economic potential if countries developed industries capable of producing goods for the continental market.
“The Africa Continental Free Trade Area gives this project even greater significance. Africa has created an integrated market of immense scale. We must now build the industries capable of supplying to that market,” Ruto said.
The AfCFTA brings together 55 African countries and is designed to create a single continental market covering about 1.3 billion people, with a combined gross domestic product of approximately Sh438.6 trillion. The African Union says the agreement is intended to remove trade barriers, promote value-added production, support industrialisation and deepen intra-African trade.
The agreement began trading in January 2021, but African countries still face significant barriers to fully realising its potential. Intra-African exports accounted for less than 20% of Africa's total exports in 2019, compared with much higher levels of regional trade in Europe and Asia.
Ruto maintained that Kenya's response should be to increase its productive capacity and ensure that goods moving across African borders are increasingly manufactured on the continent.
“The promise of a continental free trade area will be fulfilled not merely when we remove barriers at our borders, but when African factories produce the goods that move across these borders,” he said.
The President explained that Mombasa Special Economic Zone would support this strategy by providing an integrated platform for manufacturing, warehousing, assembly, processing and export-oriented enterprises.
“The Mombasa Special Economic Zone must therefore serve Kenya, our region, and our continent as a platform where African raw materials are transformed into African products moved through African trade corridors and sold to the world under African brands,” Ruto said.
Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Nassir (L) and businessman Suleiman Shahbal sign an agreement between DP World and GulfCap Africa to develop the Mombasa Special Economic Zone (SEZ) at State House, Nairobi, on September 8, 2026. PHOTO/PCS
Mombasa's existing role as a major regional trade gateway gives the project strategic importance. Kenya Ports Authority data shows that the Port of Mombasa handled a record 45.45 million tonnes of cargo in 2025, a 10% increase from 40.99 million tonnes in 2024. Container traffic rose by 5.5% to 2.11 million twenty-foot equivalent units, while transit cargo increased by 19.5% to 15.88 million tonnes.
Ruto wants that infrastructure to support more than the movement of imported and exported goods.
“Mombasa is uniquely positioned for this role. It must no longer be simply a place through which goods pass. It must increasingly become a place where goods are made, processed, assembled, branded, and exported.”
The push comes as Kenya seeks to expand its manufacturing base. According to the 2026 Economic Survey, manufacturing accounted for 7.1% of Kenya's GDP in 2025, while manufacturing output grew by 2% to Sh3.817 trillion. Employment in the sector increased by 5.2% to 388,564 workers.
The Export Processing Zones Authority also recorded growth in export-oriented activity. The number of gazetted EPZ zones rose to 114 in 2025, while employment in those zones increased by 16.4% to 104,692 people. Sales rose to Sh142.2 billion and exports reached Sh136.8 billion.
Ruto said the government would provide infrastructure and incentives to make production in Kenya more competitive, including a preferential electricity tariff of Sh10 per kilowatt for special economic zone investors.
He also pledged to construct a one-kilometre road linking the Mombasa Special Economic Zone to a major trunk road within four months, while directing Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Shariff Nassir to ensure the zone is completed within six months.
The President said the government was also developing mechanisms for financing strategic infrastructure covering roads, power, water, rail and logistics.
He linked the industrialisation drive to the need for African countries to retain more value from their raw materials instead of exporting commodities and importing finished products.
“We cannot continue exporting raw materials to the rest of the world. When we export them in their raw form, we receive only about 10% of their potential value, while losing jobs, wealth and economic opportunities,” he said.
“The tragedy is that we export these raw materials, and then import the finished products at 10 times, 20 times the value.” He added.
The World Bank has estimated that full implementation of AfCFTA could raise real income across Africa by 7% by 2035, equivalent to nearly Sh58.05 trillion while lifting millions of people from extreme poverty. It has also identified greater investment in manufacturing, agribusiness and services as important to achieving the agreement's potential.
Ruto said Kenya would therefore continue attracting international investors while demanding investment that brings capital, technology, skills, local supply chains and jobs.
“To all the parties signing this agreement today, my message is simple: move with speed. Let us move from the signatures and the photographs to implementation, from plans to infrastructure, from commitments to investment, and from investment to factories, exports, and jobs,” he said.
The President's vision places Mombasa at the centre of Kenya's longer-term strategy to benefit from AfCFTA by producing more goods locally, processing African raw materials and using the country's port and transport infrastructure to connect Kenyan and African products to continental and global markets.