Nation Media Group

Nation Media Group (NMG), formerly known as East African Newspapers (Nation Series) Ltd, is an East African media group based in Kenya and listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange. It is owned by Aga Khan IV.

History

NMG was founded in 1959 by Aga Khan IV as East African Newspapers (Nation Series) Ltd,[2] under the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. In 1999, NMG launched NTV, a news channel in Kenya, and Easy FM (now known as Nation FM).[3]

Media outlets

As of 2007 the group was the largest private media house in East and Central Africa, with offices in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.[3]

The group publications include:

The Daily Nation and its Sunday edition, the Sunday Nation, celebrated their 50th anniversaries in 2010, branded by the Nation Media Group as "50 Golden Years".[4]In 2016, MyNetwork replaced Zuqka, with both having the youth as their target audience.[5]

Regional Presence

As of 2016 NMG owned a 76.5% stake in the Monitor Publications Limited and 93.3 KFM, a Kampala-based radio station in Uganda. It also owns two television stations in the country, NTV Uganda and Spark TV. NMG also has a 60% shareholding in Mwananchi Communications Limited' in Tanzania. The group's East African subsidiaries, especially the Tanzanian business, contribute significantly to growth in the group.[6]

In March 2016, NMG commissioned a new state-of-the art printing press on Mombasa Road in Nairobi. The new facility has capacity to print 86,000 newspapers per hour. It cost KSh2 billion (about US$20 million) and will print the dailies Daily Nation, Business Daily, Taifa Leo and the weekly The EastAfrican.[7]

Shareholding

The shares of stock of the Group are listed at the Nairobi Stock Exchange[8] and are cross-listed at the Uganda Securities Exchange as well as the Rwanda Stock Exchange, trading at all three bourses under the symbol "NMG".[9] there were a total of 10,436 shareholders in the company. Of these, 4,135, owned 1 to 500 shares each, with a cumulative total of 782,157 shares, controlling 0.41 percent of the company. The seven largest shareholders controlled 62.57 percent of the total shareholding. These included:

Awards

  • 2021 IF Design Awards for an outstanding digital platform[11]
  • 2021 Global Media Awards (by the International News Media Association (INMA))[12]
  • 2022 Global Media Awards[13]

See also

  • List of newspapers in Kenya
  • List of newspapers in Tanzania
  • List of newspapers in Uganda

References

  1. Nation Media Group Limited (NMG.ke) African Financials, 11 June 2025, retrieved 17 January 2026^
  2. Breaking News, Kenya, Africa, Politics, Business, Sports Bizna Kenya, 15 March 2021, retrieved 6 January 2024^
  3. Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development: Media Services Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, 2007, retrieved 31 March 2015^
  4. Partial Listing of Nation Media Group Publications Daily Nation (Nairobi), 2014, retrieved 31 March 2015^
  5. Hilary Kimuyu. Excitement as NMG launches new youth magazine Nairobi News, 1 April 2016, retrieved 17 January 2026^
  6. George Ngigi. Nation Media Group keeps full-year dividend level but profits lag Daily Nation, 22 March 2016, retrieved 26 October 2016^
  7. John Ngirachu. Aga Khan commissions new 'Nation' press The EastAfrican, 17 March 2016, retrieved 17 March 2016^
  8. Nairobi Stock Exchange: Listed Companies Nairobi Stock Exchange, 31 March 2015, retrieved 31 March 2015^
  9. Uganda Securities Exchange: Listed Securities Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), 26 October 2016, retrieved 26 October 2016^
  10. Dhahabu. Top ten Nation Media Group shareholders Dhahabu.co.ke, 10 September 2016, retrieved 26 October 2016^
  11. Nation Media Group bags two awards at the 'Oscars of Design' – The Nation Media Group retrieved 2022-08-05^
  12. Nation Media Group Brands Win Six Global Awards – The Nation Media Group retrieved 2022-08-05^
  13. NMG wins top award in 2022 Global Media Awards – The Nation Media Group retrieved 2022-08-05^