The share counters of industry leaders Safaricom and Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) last week showed sharp gains in performance at the Nairobi Securities Exchange, thriving in the wake of more interest and investment in blue-chip counters in the Kenyan stock market.

Last week, both Safaricom and KCB shares hit their highest prices in just over one year, with Safaricom gaining for a fifth consecutive day on Friday to close up 1.3% to KES 3.90 per share while shares in Kenya’s top ranked bank in 2011 gained 1.08% on Thursday to reach their one-year record price of KES  23.50.

According to Kimathi Ikiao, and Independent Equities Analyst, “…investors have now positioned themselves towards the equity market in which the blue-chip stocks are generating quite some interest.” Mr. Kimathi explains that the Kenyan stock market has seen increased investment flows as high-yielding Treasury Bills issued from late last year to early this year have now began maturing.

Safaricom shares are currently priced 32 percent higher than their price at the beginning of the year with Mr. Kimathi explaining that interest in the counter is from the market’s recognition that the company’s management has successfully navigated the highly competitive local communications sector, and continued paying dividends on the shares.

KCB on the other hand is expected to announce 2011 half-year financial results soon. Last year, the bank reported a 54 percent annual growth in earnings, with a profit before tax of 15.1 billion shillings up from 9.8 billion shillings in 2010 according to the bank’s 2011 annual report.

Safaricom is a leading telecommunications company in Africa while KCB is the largest bank in Kenya by asset base.