This is mainly to Tanzania which serves the region through the Central Corridor. KENYA loses between five to eight per cent of high-value transit cargo annually, the State Department of East African Community now says, as Tanzania remains the main competitor. This is on inefficiencies along the Northern Corridor mainly non-tariff barriers, which are driving cargo diversion to Dar es Salaam.
The Northern Corridor which runs between Mombasa (Kenya), Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern DRC remains the vital lifeline of regional trade, handling over 35.84 million metric tonnes of cargo annually and accounting for more than 80 per cent of Kenya’s transit trade.
While the 1,700 kilometre-long corridor is the most preferred for transit goods by traders, it has continued to face increasing competition from the Central Corridor. This is the 1,300 kilometre-long Central Corridor that serves Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and Eastern D.R.
Congo, with an exit and entry point at the port of Dar es Salaam. “Kenya is fast losing her competitive and comparative advantage in the East Africa Community. We can’t continue to sit pretty,” Kenya’s East African Community Affairs Principal Secretary, Caroline Karugu, said.
She spoke yesterday during a sensitisation forum on the elimination of non-tariff barriers (NTBs) for Kenya's biggest market, where major reforms were announced. Citing critical findings from a December 2025 monitoring exercise, the State Department unveiled a strategic roadmap to eliminate persistent NTBs that currently undermine Kenya’s regional competitiveness.
Data shows the Malaba One Stop Border Post processes approximately 2,000 trucks daily with Busia processing at least 1,500 trucks on a single day. "Beyond the statistics, they represent jobs, revenue and Kenya's standing as the premier gateway to East Africa," the PS reiterated, “Every delay and inefficiency directly impacts our national revenue and the cost of goods for consumers across the region." Despite regional frameworks, a December 2025 evaluation revealed that NTBs remain deeply entrenched.