The Kenyan Port of Mombasa is losing business from its East African neighbours due to persistent issues with fuel contamination, reported Bloomberg.
Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam Port has been chosen by Rwanda and Burundi for its fuel imports, taking business away from Mobasa over contamination concerns.
Speaking to Bloomberg, Alfayo Otuke, CEO of the Kenya Transport Association, said: “Kenya’s position as the preferred petroleum importation route for landlocked East African nations is slipping out of our hands,
“It’s because importers feel our fuel is contaminated. We have unscrupulous traders. We have cases where some load transporters siphon fuel, add other products and when it gets to the destination countries, it is found to be adulterated.”
The expansion of neighbouring Dar es Salaam Port has put recent pressure on East Africa’s largest port, with this latest scandal giving Mombasa authorities a further headache.
A US$7.6-billion railway connecting Dar es Salaam to Burundi, Rwanda, Congo and Uganda will also put further strain on Kenya, which has traditionally been the import and export route for a number of landlocked East African nations such as Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, South Sudan, Eastern Congo and northern Tanzania.
