Every Tap on Your Phone Is Filling Up Kenya’s Warehouses

When Kenya’s residents use their phones to order groceries, electronics or fashion items, few think about the warehouses and logistics hubs humming in the background.

• •Yet every click is quietly reshaping Kenya’s industrial property market, a lucrative sector in a continent where the e-commerce market is projected to surpass $75bn by 2025, according to McKinsey Global Institute.
• •This potential for online shopping has translated into a rush for modern logistics and storage facilities.
• •The combination of strong rental income and rising occupancy has turned Kenya’s logistics sector into a magnet for both local and international investors.

In Africa, warehouse occupancy rose to to 83% in the first half of 2025, up from 75% a year earlier. “The demand is outpacing supply, especially for Grade A warehouses that can support climate-controlled storage and last-mile delivery,” the African Industrial Market Dashboard-H1 report notes.

Prime warehouse rents in Nairobi stand at US$ 6 per square metre per month, while industrial yields average 9.5% – among the most attractive in Africa. By comparison, Johannesburg yields average 8.25% and Lagos 8%.

Kenya’s Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) are playing a critical role in this transformation. By offering tax breaks, duty exemptions and streamlined customs processes, these zones have become magnets for global logistics firms, e-commerce operators and light manufacturers. Tatu City, Athi River, and Naivasha are emerging as hotspots, giving investors confidence to commit capital to long-term infrastructure.

The boom has drawn in global players in Kenya. Emirates Logistics, part of the Dubai-based Emirates Group, has announced plans to build a state-of-the-art hub at Tatu City’s SEZ, strengthening Nairobi’s role as a gateway for Sub-Saharan Africa. 

In Tanzania, monthly warehouse rents average $5 per square metre, with yields of about 10%, supported by the government’s plan to build 1,500 new warehouses to reduce post-harvest losses. In Uganda, rents range between $3 and $7, with yields of around 13% – the highest in the region, though supply remains constrained, especially for Grade A space. Ethiopia, by contrast, has leaned heavily on state-led industrial parks, with less private-sector investment than Kenya’s market-driven SEZs.