Nairobi — Kenya tourism is expected to get its biggest boost in years as over 3,000 delegates arrive in Nairobi to attend two separate regional and continental trade and investment conferences.

About 2,000 delegates and 500 exhibitors have confirmed attendance for the three-day African Growth and Opportunities Act (Agoa) Forum in Nairobi to run from August 4.

Before the Agoa forum, the East African Community's three-day East African Investment Conference starts on July 29. It seeks to promote the region as a single market and investment area. The second, the EAC investment conference is expected to bring together policy makers, business leaders and the regional and international investment community to review the investment outlook of the EAC region and discuss investment opportunities.

Principally, members of EAC, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi would attend. According to a source at Kenya Investment Authority 500 delegates have confirmed attendance for the investment conference.

Trade minister Amos Kimunya told reporters on Monday that most delegates attending the investment conference might prefer to stay in the country and wait for the start of Agoa forum. All EAC member countries are Agoa-eligible countries.

Agoa, a US law that provides duty-free access to 6,400 products from 38-eligible African countries, has improved trade ties between the US and Africa to reach equivalent to Sh6,864 billion last year.

Current registration figures show that 200 formal exhibitors have registered while 300 Jua Kali artisans have confirmed participation, according the forum planner Exhibition & Events Organisers Limited chairman Solomon Kinyanjui. Further 2,000 have confirmed participation.

"We have surpassed our target because we had expected to get 120 exhibitors among them 50 from Kenya, but in fact the actual number for Kenyan exhibitors has reached 120," Mr Kinyanjui told the Nation. The Agoa Forum is an annual high-level event, mandated by the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).

The Forum allows officials from Agoa eligible countries and officials from the US to review implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, as well as chart new ways forward in building closer economic ties between the US and sub-Saharan Africa.

In addition to the government-to-government ministerial meetings, the forum would include meetings of the US and African private sectors and civil society.