Kenya and the United Nations are in discussion to make the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) a regional humanitarian hub, which will significantly raise the airport's global standing and revenue generation.
According to Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi, the government and the UN are discussing plans for a humanitarian logistics hub at JKIA to coordinate its humanitarian operations in the Eastern and Southern Africa region.
A humanitarian hub is a central facility or coordination centre where humanitarian organisations, aid agencies, and other stakeholders collaborate to deliver emergency relief, support disaster response, or provide ongoing assistance to vulnerable communities.
This would place JKIA at the centre of most, if not all, of the humanitarian operations of the UN within the region.
Essentially, JKIA would become a strategic base for handling and dispatching humanitarian assistance efficiently during disasters, conflicts, or crises in Kenya and neighbouring countries.
According to Mudavadi, the plan involves the country’s two ports, that is the Port of Mombasa and the inland Port of Naivasha, further increasing the volume of goods and services on the production chain.
“If implemented, this facility, which will be linked to a corridor from Mombasa to Naivasha through Nairobi, will also be the largest in the Global South,” Mudavadi said.
A humanitarian hub typically includes storage and distribution, coordination of air and ground transport, and a disaster response center. All of this would need to be established at the JKIA, providing opportunities for local job creation.
The national transport hub had a total revenue of Ksh19 billion in the financial year 2024. JKIA earned approximately Ksh14 billion from landing, parking, and air passenger service charges.
During the same period, the airport generated about Ksh5 billion from activities such as car parking, duty-free shops, advertising, cargo services, and general retail.
Already, Kenya has wooed the UN to increase its operations in Nairobi, which will see the global agency make new investments to the tune of Ksh44 billion.
This is to expand its offices in Gigiri, which will allow it to move some sections from its global headquarters in New York.
