About Mombasa
Mombasa is Kenya’s second-largest city with a 2019 population towering slightly above 1 million people. Located along the Indian Ocean coastline, it possesses a rich history dating to the 16th Century under the Portuguese Empire before being taken over by the Sultanate of Oman and later the British East African empire. This predominant island city is now the principal port of Kenya and its neighboring countries such as Uganda, South Sudan, and the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Its tropical temperature makes it a top tourist destination in the region, boasting numerous beeches and hospitality facilities. Consequently, the Mombasa metropolitan area is Kenya’s second-largest economy as measured by GDP-PPP.
The prosperity of Mombasa has attracted a diverse group of people, Kenyans and foreign nationals alike. Rural-urban migration has been a great force of diversity in Mombasa although without its downsides. First, interethnic tensions were blamed for election violence in 1998 and 2008, although this has since subsided. Second, the influx of people into the city has driven the cost of living upwards and caused one of Kenya’s worst traffic crises. Third, the high population density in the regions has meant decreased public resources to support schools, hospitals, and sanitation needs, above lowering job opportunities for its young population. While measures by the Mombasa County and Kenya’s national government are presently underway to mitigate some of these issues, youth unemployment still remains almost double the national average. This has necessitated the need for private and non-governmental organizations to work in partnership with the government and communities therein to ameliorate these social burdens.