When seasoned industry practitioners step into a room with port managers to unpack the mechanics of international trade, the organisation of shipping, and the evolving dynamics of tramp and liner services, something important happens. Knowledge stops being abstract and becomes operational. That is precisely what occurred when Silvester M. Kututa, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers and Managing Director of Express Shipping and Logistics (EA) Ltd, facilitated sessions for senior managers of the Kenya Ports Authority under the UNCTAD TrainForTrade Port Management Programme.
Insights shared in such sessions help shape stronger ports, more efficient supply chains and more competitive economies. In the context of recent TrainForTrade activities in Kenya—coaching workshops that certified 18 senior KPA managers as instructors and the launch of the first cycle of the Modern Port Management Programme—this is not ceremonial. It is strategic.
The Strategic Context: Ports as Economic Multipliers
Kenya’s ports, particularly Mombasa, function as the primary gateway for a large hinterland that includes Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan, and parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Ethiopia. Efficiency gains or losses here ripple across multiple economies. Global shipping continues to consolidate, vessel sizes grow, supply chains face recurring disruptions, and customers demand reliability, transparency and lower total logistics costs. Ports that treat management capability as a fixed asset rather than a renewable one fall behind.
UNCTAD’s TrainForTrade Port Management Programme was designed for precisely this environment. It aims to strengthen institutional capacity, promote port-community collaboration, raise service quality and competitiveness, and embed environmental and social responsibility. The Modern Port Management course spans roughly 240–280 hours across eight modules over about two years. Participants produce practical case studies and defend dissertations before international experts. Critically, the model builds local trainers so that knowledge transfer becomes endogenous rather than perpetually dependent on external experts.
The recent coaching workshop in the Kilifi–Watamu area (12–16 October 2026) certified 18 KPA managers as TrainForTrade instructors. These coaches are expected to support delivery of Kenya’s first full cycle, which began with Module 1 on international trade and maritime transport. This sequencing is deliberate: first create a critical mass of local facilitators, then cascade the curriculum.
Why Sessions on Trade, Shipping Organisation, and Tramp/Liner Trends Matter
Kututa’s focus areas—international trade processes, shipping industry organisation, and current trends in tramp and liner shipping—sit at the commercial core of port performance. Ports do not exist in isolation; they respond to the decisions of shipowners, charterers, cargo interests and logistics providers.
Liner shipping (scheduled container and multipurpose services) dominates many African gateways and is shaped by alliance structures, schedule reliability and blank sailings. Tramp shipping (spot or voyage-chartered bulk, breakbulk and specialised vessels) remains vital for commodities, project cargo and energy. Understanding how these segments price risk, allocate capacity and respond to geopolitical or climatic shocks allows port managers to anticipate demand, optimise berth allocation, negotiate better commercial terms and design incentives that attract rather than repel traffic.
When senior managers internalise these dynamics, decisions on infrastructure sequencing, tariff design, digital systems and stakeholder engagement become more grounded. The difference between a reactive port and a proactive one often lies in this commercial literacy.
Beyond Infrastructure: People as the Constraint and the Opportunity
Kenya has invested significantly in physical capacity. Berth 19B at Mombasa, reported at 56 percent completion in mid-October 2026, is projected to add substantial TEU capacity. Related works at Dongo Kundu and supporting road infrastructure continue. Hardware alone, however, does not guarantee competitiveness. Congestion, dwell times, procedural friction and inconsistent service quality can erase the benefits of new concrete and steel.
Capacity building addresses the softer, harder-to-copy advantages: institutional memory, analytical capability, cross-functional coordination, and the ability to translate global trends into local operational responses. UNCTAD and KPA leadership have been explicit on this point. Strong ports are built by skilled people. The programme creates a pool of local experts who can champion excellence, facilitate trade and contribute to broader economic development.
This approach also supports regional leadership. Kenya is well positioned to act as a knowledge hub for the English-speaking TrainForTrade network in Africa. Certified local instructors can eventually support peer ports, strengthening South-South cooperation and reducing long-term reliance on external facilitation.
Risks and Realism
Training programmes succeed only if they are institutionalised. Certification must translate into changed practices, performance metrics and career pathways. Case studies and dissertations should address real operational bottlenecks—not remain academic exercises. Knowledge transfer to the wider workforce, including middle managers and operational staff, is essential; otherwise the benefits remain concentrated at the top.
External conditions also matter. Global trade volatility, regional security, currency fluctuations and competition from alternative corridors will continue to test even well-managed ports. Capacity building improves resilience and adaptability; it does not eliminate external shocks.
The Broader Stakes for East Africa
Efficient, well-managed ports lower the cost of trade, improve the competitiveness of exporters, reduce the landed cost of imports, and support industrialisation and food security. For landlocked neighbours, the quality of Kenyan port and corridor performance is a direct economic variable. For Kenya itself, ports and the associated logistics ecosystem remain central to the blue-economy agenda and to ambitions of becoming a regional logistics hub.
The sessions facilitated by practitioners such as Kututa, embedded within a structured UNCTAD framework and backed by KPA’s commitment to develop its own trainers, represent the practical face of that ambition. Knowledge shared in a workshop room in Kilifi or Watamu does not stay there. When it informs berth planning, commercial negotiations, process redesign and performance culture, it compounds.
East Africa’s trade future will be shaped as much by the quality of decisions inside port authorities as by the length of new quays. Investing in the people who make those decisions is not optional. It is one of the highest-leverage actions available. The TrainForTrade partnership, and the practical engagement of experienced industry voices within it, is a concrete step in the right direction. The test now is sustained implementation and measurable improvement in the metrics that matter to shippers, shipowners and the economies that depend on these gateways.