Export items from Kenya include tea, coffee, pyrethrum, sisal, steel products and cement. The presence of the port and the origin of the railway from Mombasa into the hinterland enhances the importance of Mombasa as a focal point in the transportation of goods. Other large industries include a cement manufacturing plant, which was established in Mombasa in 1954 on the mainland. The cement manufactured here is consumed locally and exported mainly to Uganda, inland Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands. Also having a presence here are steel and iron processing plants, textile manufacturing, sisal plantations, tropical fruit processing, salt works, glassworks and textile factories.
Tourism plays an important part in the Coast.
There are several hotels, inns, lodges, camps all over the island that encourage tourists to visit this resort, hence creating a chain for several other small businesses to operate. Tourism is the major foreign exchange earner for Kenya. Other local businesses include insurance companies and brokerage, wholesale and retail food distribution, distribution of sundries, hardware shops, garages, construction engineers as well as a wide range of professional services, etc.