NAIROBI, Kenya Mar 10 – The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) has announced it will exit its 66-year investment in Nation Media Group (NMG), ending a long-standing partnership with one of East Africa’s most influential media houses.
AKFED will sell its entire shareholding in NPRT Holdings Africa Limited—the investment vehicle that holds a 54.08 percent controlling stake in NMG—to Taarifa Ltd, owned by Tanzanian businessman Rostam Azizi.
The transaction gives Azizi majority ownership of Nation Media Group through the acquisition of 92,618,177 ordinary shares. NMG shares will, however, continue trading on the Nairobi Securities Exchange and other cross-listed platforms.
Nation Media Group traces its origins to 1959 when His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV acquired the Kiswahili weekly Taifa Leo, laying the foundation for what would grow into a multi-platform media organisation with more than 30 brands, a digital audience exceeding 62 million users and over 1,000 employees across Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Over the decades, the media house has played a central role in Kenya’s democratic development, including coverage of the return to multiparty politics in the 1990s and civic education during the 2010 constitutional referendum.
AKFED Director Sultan Allana said the fund was proud of its role in building one of Africa’s most respected media institutions.
“AKFED is proud of its contribution to building one of Africa’s most respected media institutions. We are confident NMG will continue to uphold the values of independent journalism and service to the public that have defined it for over six decades,” he said.
During its stewardship, AKFED oversaw several milestones at NMG, including the launch of the Daily Nation and Sunday Nation, the company’s listing on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in 1973, the establishment of The EastAfrican, and the launch of NTV Kenya and Easy FM.
The group also expanded regionally through investments in Uganda and Tanzania, strengthened its digital presence, launched the Newspapers in Education programme and installed a $20 million state-of-the-art printing press in 2016.
For Azizi, the acquisition represents an opportunity to accelerate NMG’s digital transformation. Taarifa Ltd said it currently has no plans to make a mandatory or voluntary offer for the remaining shares or to delist the company.
“We are honoured and deeply committed to becoming the majority shareholder of Nation Media Group. NMG is an institution of profound importance to East Africa, and we will uphold its editorial independence while investing in its continued success as the region’s leading independent media organisation,” Azizi said.
Azizi is also behind the Sh16 billion Taifa Gas project in Dongo Kundu, Mombasa County. The LPG storage and distribution plant, developed by Taifa Gas Investments SEZ Limited, is about 80 percent complete and expected to be operational soon.
Despite exiting NMG ownership, AKFED said it will continue supporting journalism training through the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications (GSMC), which offers programmes in digital journalism, media leadership, innovation and strategic communications.
Over the past decade, GSMC has graduated more than 200 postgraduate professionals and trained more than 7,000 media practitioners across East Africa through various programmes, public forums and masterclasses aimed at strengthening journalism in the region.
