The Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) has given the African Athletics Championships Local Organising Committee a nod of approval for its efforts.
CAA head of delegation Frankie Fredericks said yesterday he was impressed with the progress made so far, expressing the hope that Kenya would beat the deadline by having everything in place in readiness for the championship.
But he warned that the David Okeyo's committee must work overtime in order to complete the preparations before the deadline.
Kenya has made positive strides towards hosting the 17th edition of the Africa Senior Athletics Championships, slated for 28 July to 1 August in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.
Fredericks, accompanied by CAA secretary general Lamine Faty and vice-chairman Vivian Gungaram, said his team was impressed with the hotels, facilities and efforts made by the Local Organising Committee (LOC).
Leading the three-man technical delegation on an inspection tour of facilities here, he said the Nyayo National Stadium track was in good condition and able to host the event with exception of the warm up area, which needs to be put in place on time.
'I have seen the progress being made on the warm up area which is commendable and am optimistic it will be ready before the event,' said Fredricks.
He said the Sports Stadia Management Board (SSMB) had assured him of working round the clock to ensure that all the necessary facilities would be in place, including the electronic timer.
'The LOC has sourced for equipment from abroad which are expected to arrive soon to enhance the preparations,' said Fredricks.
He said they have come up with a strategy whereby the hotels housing the athletes will not be far from the venue so that they are not bogged by traffic jam.
"We have identified several hotels which are not far from the Nyayo National Stadium where the athletes will not have a drive of more than 20 minutes to avoid fatigue," said the former Olympic medalist.
He said the test run, scheduled for 18 April, may be postponed in case the requisite equipment fails to land in Kenya on time.
The test-run event is meant to showcase the LOC's potential to stage the event and that is why there will be the need for all that is required to be in place.
The main aim is to gauge Kenya's ability to host the African championships.
The legendary and celebrated African sprint king urged top African athletes to participate in the championships
Fredericks, the lone Namibian Olympic and World athletics championships medalist, said African elite athletes should show patriotism by giving the continental championships top priority.
He said with the top athletes participating, it will enable Africa select a formidable team to the World Cup, set for Split, Croatia, in September.
The Africa athletes representative in the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and International Olympic (IOC), is lobbying the Confederation of Africa Athletics (CAA) members to encourage and find ways and means of convincing African athletes to compete in Nairobi.
Africa last won the World Cup in 2002 when it was held in Madrid, Spain, with Fredericks as the captain, before losing it four years later in Athens, Greece.