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Investment CS Lee Kinyanjui said the government is looking into how it can expand the country’s cold store chain so that more of fresh produce from Kenya can be exported by sea.

Sea transportation is cheaper than air transportation, which is almost double the expense.

“This is an ongoing conversation and as a user of the Mombasa port, we are directly concerned about efficiency and the infrastructure around to ensure that we are able tom increase our exports by sea,” Kinyanjui said on Friday.

He spoke during a tour of the Coast region to inspect some of the projects affecting trade, investments and industry.

The CS started the tour at the Mombasa port to assess the port efficiency, examine the challenges affecting the port and try and ensure the port becomes more efficient and the cost of facilitation around the port becomes reasonable.

“The turnaround time for our ships and trucks when they come to collect goods has been a major cause of concern,” Kinyanjui said.

He said, however, most of the issues have been addressed including scanning of goods by KRA and other issues that have been affecting efficiency.

“Our desire is to make Mombasa the port of choice for the larger East Africa and again to be able to hasten our exports, especially the fresh produce, noting that we are getting into the avocado export season, which is a perishable product,” the CS said.

Kinyanjui, who also toured the Taifa Gas installation at the Dongo Kundu Special Economic Zone, said the facility will be completed in the next two to three months after which Kenya will have an additional 30,000 metric tonnes capacity of gas.

“This will make it the distribution not only for the country but also the entire region, including the countries that are around us,” Kinyanjui said.

Gas, he said, has an environmental angle and Kenya would want to convert more of charcoal and firewood users into gas users.

Gas is more environmentally friendly and its use will ensure Kenya’s forest cover is not depleted because of pressure for energy and fuel.

“We support this investment and look forward to the completion of this investment so that it can benefit the larger economy,” the CS said.

The cost if energy is a critical part for any business, especially in the manufacturing industry, and gas is one of the sources of energy, he noted.

He said there is a deliberate conversion of use of petroleum to gas and electricity.

“So we are going to see more vehicles using electricity (Electric Vehicles, EVs) and others using gas,” the CS said.

He said this is the reason the country is striving to build its capacity to ensure it is ready to plug into that opportunity.

The Dongo Kundu SEZ is one of the flagships of President William Ruto’s government, which will help increase value addition and manufacturing in the country.

“Being at the port, the SEZ is designed to attract investors with an export market in mind,” he said.

Apart from Taifa Gas, the government is also in discussion with a glass company that will come to the SEZ to make bottles for pharmaceutical use.

A steel company is also in the pipeline to join the others at the Dongo Kundu SEZ.

“I can assure you in another five years, we expect this to be a thriving industry that will support thousands of Kenyans who are in need of jobs, and also compensating on the money we spend importing products from abroad,” Kinyanjui said.

The government is aligning some of its policies, including pharmaceutical, auto industry and many others, so as to plug into emerging opportunities.

Special Economic Zone Authority CEO Kenneth Chelule said the Dongo Kundu SEZ is attracting investors from all over the region, and beyond, including Japan.

“This is as a result of god measures put together by the Kenya government to attract and make Kenya competitive for investment. Today, the influx of investors is commendable,” Chelule said.

He noted that in some of the SEZs, they are dealing with factors to ensure the quality investors

“Quality in our case means you are going to employ en masse, and bring foreign currency during the course of your business. We have set up systems to vet them,” the SEZA CEO said.

He said the government is incentivizing some of the investors to give Kenya infrastructure.

“You’ve already seen what is happening at the port where the berth is being constructed. Those kind of investments is what we are trying to encourage so that they can provide supportive and necessary infrastructure for ease of movement of goods and to do what they are good at,” Chelule said.

He said such incentives are among the best in the continent, with only one or two countries that have similar of slightly higher value incentives.

“Globally and across the continent, Kenya is a good investment destination based on the government’s deliberate initiative of setting up SEZ incentives equivalent to elsewhere in the world,” he said.

He noted there are 35 public and private SEZs across the country.