DP World will build a 222-hectare industrial park next to Mombasa's port

DP World expands East Africa footprint: Port giant DP World agreed with Kenyan investment firm GulfCap Africa to develop a 222-hectare special economic zone (SEZ), called the Mombasa Industrial Park, less than 20 km from the Port of Mombasa, according to a press release. The project will roll out in phases, starting with 40 hectares.

Why now: DP World has spent years trying to get a concession to run berths at the Mombasa port. A 2023 tender would have handed it four berths and a 1 mn-TEU terminal, but a community court action halted the process. The case was settled in 2024, and Kenya revived the concession push in 2025, with Japanese and Chinese financiers circling — but DP World hasn’t publicly re-entered the bid.

This matches DP World’s broader playbook: “DP World’s strategy describes economic zones as part of an integrated ecosystem connecting ports, logistics and end markets,” maritime and ports analyst Nilesh Tiwary tells EnterpriseAM. An industrial park generates revenue beyond cargo handling through “land leases, warehouses, distribution centres, container handling, cargo consolidation, customs-related services, value-added logistics, cold storage, freight forwarding and inland transportation,” he adds.

“The SEZ delivers what DP World needs most, independent of berth control: cargo, logistics revenue, and a grip on regional trade,” former head of supply chain and transport industries at the World Economic Forum Wolfgang Lehmacher tells us. “The industrial park hedges against political risk, not maritime chokepoints [...] a nearby SEZ lets the company capture Mombasa's trade gravity without waiting on an approval process it doesn’t control,” he adds.

Why it matters: Mombasa will become DP World’s ninth active African market, joining existing operations in Algeria, Angola, Egypt, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Somaliland, and Tanzania. It fits a pattern we’ve flagged before: Gulf port operators are competing on more than quay space, building the freezones and inland logistics networks around ports they don’t necessarily control.