French carrier CMA CGM has signed a strategic agreement with the Kenyan government to expand port, logistics, and freight infrastructure in East Africa, strengthening Kenya’s role as a regional gateway for cargo moving into Central Africa.
The agreement was signed during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi in the presence of French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan President William Ruto.
As part of the deal, CMA CGM plans to explore investments in port capacity, inland logistics, and freight management systems linked to the ports of Mombasa and Lamu. President Macron said the French group had committed €700 million for the renovation of two terminals at the Port of Mombasa, including facilities capable of handling larger container vessels.
CMA CGM has operated in Kenya since 2005 and already connects Mombasa and Lamu with regional inland corridors serving Uganda, Rwanda, South Sudan, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The company is positioning Kenya as a key hub within its wider African network, where the French carrier is already involved in nine container terminal projects and operations across the continent.
For shipping lines, the Mombasa expansion is particularly important because the port continues to handle growing transshipment and gateway cargo volumes for East and Central Africa. Larger terminals and improved inland connections could help reduce congestion, improve turnaround times, and strengthen links between the Indian Ocean and inland African markets.
CMA CGM said its African strategy focuses on expanding port infrastructure, securing inland logistics capacity, and improving multimodal transport connections through its logistics arm CEVA Logistics.
The company is developing combined sea, rail, and road corridors aimed at speeding up cargo flows from African ports to inland destinations, where logistics costs remain high and transport bottlenecks continue to affect trade.
The Kenya project adds to CMA CGM’s broader African expansion programme, which includes the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria, Kribi Container Terminal in Cameroon, the Nador West Med terminal in Morocco, the Red Sea Container Terminal in Sokhna, Egypt, and planned infrastructure projects in Congo and Alexandria.
The group is also increasingly linking African infrastructure projects with decarbonisation plans. In Nigeria, CMA CGM is working on electric river barge operations connected to Lekki Port as part of efforts to reduce emissions from urban cargo transport.
Headquartered in Marseille, CMA CGM operates more than 700 vessels worldwide and transported over 24 million teu in 2025.
