Kenya has announced plans to construct a second Special Economic Zone in Mombasa County. Mombasa’s deputy governor Dr. William Kingi reaveled the plans and said that feasibility studies for the project is underway.
The project comes after the recent launch of the construction of Dongo Kundu SEZ, which is located in Likoni. The Dongo Kundu SEZ which is designed to be a multi-sectoral zone comprises of Industrial Parks, Free Trade Zones/Free Port, Dongo Kundu Port, Tourism Zone (MICE), Business Service Parks and Commercial and Residential Zone.
Miritini industrial complex
The second SEZ will be located on a 600-acre land at Miritini and will be called ‘Miritini industrial complex’. The county government is partnering with TradeMark East Africa (TEA) for the actualization of the facility. According to Dr. William Kingi, the feasibility study done is looking into the types of businesses and investments that can be established in the economic zone.
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The SEZ is projected to make up for business and job losses occasioned by the operationalization of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) cargo transport. The SGR cargo freight services have been linked to dwindling economic fortunes in the port city.
A study conducted by the University of Nairobi last year to look into the socio-economic impact of SGR freight services concluded that Mombasa’s economy had borne the brunt of its negative effects. ”We all know that the SGR issue has negatively impacted our economy and so we must look to diversification for sustainability. This sort of diversification will shift reliance from the logistics sector which has long been the county’s economic engine,” said Dr. Kingi.
