Ethiopia is also likely to become an increasingly important customer to GBHL and the port of Mombasa in general as the government in Addis Ababa is seeking to improve transport links with Kenya, in a continuing effort to overcome the loss of its own ports following the secession of Eritrea.

The purchase of new cargo handling equipment has boosted handling capacity to 300t an hour but GBHL has now decided that additional capacity is also required.

* the need to provide long-term storage in bulk for various clients, as the GBHL terminal only provides transit storage for a specified period

* the need to address the problems of cargo dwell at the terminal associated with poor transport logistics, which frustrated efficient clearance of consignments from the GBHL terminal