Fuel now accounts for about 55% of road transport costs. Shippers Council of Eastern Africa chief executive Agayo Ogambi /HANDOUT East Africa must urgently cut the cost and unpredictability of moving goods across the region, with high fuel expenses, border delays and fragmented logistics systems threatening trade competitiveness, industry players have warned.
The Shippers Council of Eastern Africa chief executive Agayo Ogambi said logistics costs had become a major constraint to businesses as traders contend with rising fuel expenses, road charges, vehicle operating costs, border delays and empty truck returns. Speaking during a panel discussion at the East Africa CEO and Investment Forum 2026 in Nairobi, Ogambi said the region needed to shift its focus from building individual infrastructure projects to improving the performance of the entire trade corridor.
The two-day forum, held on September 17–18, brought together business leaders, investors, policymakers and development finance institutions to discuss ways of improving East Africa's trade and investment competitiveness. Ogambi said fuel accounted for about 38 per cent of road transport costs in 2021, but the share had risen to approximately 55 per cent in 2026, putting additional pressure on the cost of transporting goods.
“ The key challenge is not only infrastructure capacity, but the cost and unpredictability of moving cargo across the entire corridor,” Ogambi said. He said the problem was particularly important for Kenya because the Port of Mombasa remains a major gateway for imports and exports serving the wider East African region.
The Northern Corridor, which connects Mombasa with Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, is one of the region's critical trade routes. However, shippers continue to face delays along the corridor, increasing the time and cost required to move cargo from the port to inland destinations.
Ogambi cited July-September 2025 data showing that cargo movement between Mombasa and Kampala averaged about 111 hours, against a cited target of 72 hours.