Mombasa: The government has reaffirmed its commitment to unlocking the vast potential of Kenya’s maritime sector to create jobs, attract investment, spur enterprise development, and improve livelihoods. Principal Secretary (PS) for Shipping and Maritime Affairs, Aden Millah, highlighted Kenya’s strategic location and vast marine and inland water resources as enormous opportunities that remain largely underexploited.
According to Kenya News Agency, PS Millah spoke during the State Department for Shipping and Maritime Affairs stakeholders’ engagement forum for the 2027/28 Financial Year and Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) in Mombasa. He stated that the government would focus its resources on interventions aimed at unlocking the sector’s potential and delivering measurable results during this period.
In the Fourth Medium-Term Plan of Kenya Vision 2030, which implements the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA), the Blue Economy has been identified as a key value chain with the potential to transform Kenya’s economy. The State Department will prioritise maritime education, training, and labour, strengthen Kenya’s shipping and logistics capacity, and develop maritime transport infrastructure.
Other priorities include maritime spatial planning and sustainable utilisation of marine resources, enhancing maritime safety, security, and environmental protection, and strengthening Kenya’s national shipping capacity. PS Millah emphasized that fully realizing the potential of the maritime sector is crucial for Kenya to become a competitive, industrialised, and prosperous economy.
He noted Kenya’s strategic advantage due to its geographical location along the Eastern Coast of Africa and major international shipping and trade routes. With 640 kilometres of coastline, territorial waters covering about 9,700 square kilometres, and an Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of approximately 230,000 square kilometres, the maritime sector is central to Kenya’s trade, logistics, food security, industrialisation, employment creation, foreign exchange earnings, and national competitiveness.
The PS outlined the sector’s opportunities in areas such as international shipping, maritime transport and logistics, shipbuilding and repair, marine cargo handling, maritime education and training, maritime law, safety and security, marine salvage, offshore energy, offshore mining, and marine biotechnology. Additional opportunities include blue data, cargo consolidation, freight forwarding, marine insurance, ship handling, port agency services, oil bunkering, tourism, sport fishing, and marine governance.
PS Millah underscored the government’s responsibility to create an enabling environment for transforming these opportunities into bankable investments and sustainable jobs. He called for a deliberate partnership between the government, counties, private investors, financial institutions, development partners, academia, professional bodies, and communities.
In conclusion, PS Millah asserted that if properly developed, the maritime sector could contribute significantly to job creation, poverty reduction, food security, and foreign exchange earnings, while expanding the tax base, boosting exports, and promoting inclusive economic development.
