What changed
Rwanda has committed to build a logistics hub at Kenya’s Mai Mahiu Special Economic Zone, linking cargo from the Port of Mombasa to Rwanda via the Standard Gauge Railway. The commitment comes as investor interest in the industrial park rises from 15 earlier in 2026 to 24.
Why it matters
For Rwanda, the hub offers a more direct route into a country that already receives more than $300 million in exports from Kenya, according to Trade Minister Usta Kayitesi. She said the facility would shorten the journey from Mombasa through Mai Mahiu and onward to Rwanda.
The project also gives Kenya’s Northern Corridor another anchor point for cargo moving inland. The SEZ Authority says the site will include 600 worker homes, a school, a hospital, a security unit and a commercial centre. Investors are being offered corporation-tax rates of about 10% for the first 10 years, 15% for the next 10 and 30% thereafter.
The bigger bet is on scale. A Northern Corridor feasibility study cited in the report projects Mombasa cargo rising from 15 million metric tonnes a year to 40 million within five years. That would make efficient inland handling more valuable, but Rwanda’s hub still has no announced construction cost, completion date or cargo capacity.
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