Kenya moves to cut transit time on key Northern Corridor trade route
"We will also cut emergency response time under the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System to less than one hour," Karugu said.
General view of trucks transporting goods to Uganda queue on the road leading to the Malaba One Stop Border Post, a border crossing point between Kenya and Uganda in Malaba western Kenya. (Photo by / AFP)
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NAIROBI — Kenya has announced major reforms to speed up cargo transit along the Northern Corridor, a vital trade route connecting the Port of Mombasa to landlocked nations in East and Central Africa.
Caroline Karugu, principal secretary for the State Department for East African Community Affairs on Tuesday, April 21, 2026, said reforms such as the removal of police roadblocks aim to reduce transit times for cargo between Mombasa and Malaba on the border with Uganda from the current 76-80 hours to 36-48 hours.
"We will also cut emergency response time under the Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System to less than one hour," Karugu said at a forum on the management of non-tariff barriers held on the outskirts of Nairobi, Kenya's capital.
Karugu noted that these inefficiencies are pushing cargo toward Tanzanian routes, causing Kenya to lose between 5 percent and 8 percent of high-value transit cargo annually.
She added that reducing transit delays by 50 percent is estimated to save transporters between $288 and $360 per trip.