A ship is unloaded at Mombasa Port. Customer satisfaction continues to rise at the port.

The majority of Ugandan users of the Mombasa Port in Kenya are happy with the progress the Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) has made in making the clearance of cargo more efficient over the past years.

According to an independent Customer Satisfaction Survey, KPA received a customer satisfaction index of 79%, up from 70% in 2020. The study, which was carried out by SBO Training Ltd, a research firm based in Nairobi, involved respondents from seven countries that use the port of Mombasa for both imports and exports.

A total of 1,232 respondents were interviewed in the study, about 250 of which were based in Uganda. More than half of those interviewed reported noticing notable changes at the port over the past year, particularly the adoption of modern technology, which they said has improved service delivery at the Port.

• In particular, Ugandan customers were the happiest with the innovations that the KPA has introduced in the last five years. Uganda is KPA’s biggest Transit customer, with cargo destined for Uganda taking the largest share of KPA Transit markets. The study aimed at determining customer expectations and establishing the level to which KPA is meeting their expectations.

Speaking at the dissemination of the findings in Kampala on October 24, Boniface Ngahu, the SBO Training managing director, said there was general improvement in customer satisfaction with KPA across the region.

“For embracing modern technologies and being innovative, Uganda rated KPA higher than other markets across the various parameters such as customer care, stakeholder relations, among others,” he said. He added; “KPA needs to keep on innovating in order to further enhance the customer experience and drive customer satisfaction in future.”

• Generally, all aspects measured recorded improvements in the current survey. KPA was seen to have embraced modern technology by a whopping 87% of respondents. Areas that were cited included equipment acquisition and modernization (cranes). Trust in KPA has also rose from 68% to 84%.

KPA officials and a cross section of participants at the customer satisfaction survey dissemination workshop at the Kampala Serena Hotel on October 25.

Kargo Pay, the new 24/7 payment system introduced last year, was the most notable change mentioned. The hi-tech system enables a customer to make payments remotely and has been hailed as a game-changer for its convenience, flexibility, and efficiency in settling port charges.

The study further shows that container traffic at the port stands at about 1.8 Million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs), higher than the pre-pandemic level of about 1.4 TEUs. Uganda accounted for more than 6.2 million tonnes of imports in 2023, edging closer to the pre-pandemic level of 7.6 metric tonnes.

However, Uganda’s exports exceeded the pre-pandemic level of 486,000 metric tonnes, almost doubling to about 829,400 tonnes in 2023. KPA has rolled out an ambitious four-year strategic plan aimed at improving customer experience by providing responsive services that exceed customer expectations. It aims to attain a Customer Satisfaction index of 75% by 2027.

Core to this plan is a digitalization and integration plan to upgrade the terminal operating system, ensure end to end automation, real time information on operations as well as ‘smart’ gates. These initiatives are intended to reduce Truck Turn Around time to two days.

• Peter Masinde, who represented William Ruto, the KPA managing director, said they are committed to improving service delivery. “My assurance is that we are equally concerned about the truck turnaround times and we are focused on improving efficiency,” he said.

• He said the process of upgrading their operating system is already underway and it would enable them to process everything faster to ensure that there is no delay. He added that they have already commissioned a project for the real-time recording and availability of the containers at the port, among other innovations.

The economies of the regional partners expanding thus increasing the volumes of cargo – over 90% passes through the port - which has necessitated the need for automation and process re-engineering for world-class efficiency in cargo handling.

The survey dissemination event was attended by top exporters and importers, shipping lines, association representatives as well as forwarding and logistics companies. Miriam Mwakundia, the KPA manager marketing and customer experience, said plans are underway to give a ‘green channel’ to Ugandan Authorized Economic Operators (AEOs), currently estimated at about 140 and covering about 40% of the international trade value.

In the recommendations, Ngahu said KPA needs to sustain service delivery initiatives that have supported the current improvement in customer satisfaction. The Ugandan business community gave glowing tribute to the KPA team in Uganda, led by Betty W. Mkonyi, saying they are always supportive when approached for assistance.