Strategic managerial decisions taken by Nation Media Group to digitise its operations in a news industry that is heavily disrupted by rapid technological changes and the emergence of social media have started paying off, outgoing NMG Board Chairman Wilfred Kiboro has said.
Dr Kiboro, who on Friday handed over the baton to incoming Board Chairman Joe Muganda, said NMG’s digital transformation over the past five years as well as managerial and other board changes have started bearing fruits.
“We have made tremendous progress. We have a very active board and as you have seen we have tried very hard to refresh by bringing in new blood that is going to be ready to take this Group to the next level,” Dr Kiboro told shareholders at the Group’s 62nd annual general meeting (AGM) in Nairobi on Friday.
“We have had to make some very hard decisions in the past few years but they needed to be made to ensure that we have long-term sustainability of the Group.”
Dr Kiboro, who stepped down after 32 years of service to NMG, said all indications point to a sustainable business.
“With the organisational changes and the investments we have made, I can confidently tell our shareholders that based on the results that we have seen so far in the first half of this year, the worst is behind us,” he said.
Globally, technological disruptions and social media, in particular, have impacted the media industry beyond the newsroom, altering the business model and forcing news organisations to overhaul their operations.
The traditional revenue sources, mainly advertising and copy sales, have been significantly disrupted.
New blood
“As you saw when I introduced the board, we have refreshed and brought new blood at the Group level and also in the subsidiaries. This has been very deliberate to give the Group a chance to survive in the digital era. I think there are very distinguished new members in the board and I have every confidence that they will take the Group where it belongs,” said Dr Kiboro.
“I want to thank you shareholders for your patience. I know it is not easy when you have not received dividends in the past two or three years but I want to appeal to you to give us a chance to turn around.”
NMG is betting on increased digital content and product monetisation to drive revenue growth.
From left: Nation Media Group's Managing Director and CEO, Mr Geoffrey Odundo, NMG Board Chairman, Mr Joseph Muganda and outgoing Board Chairman, Dr Wilfred Kiboro, during the presentation of the 2024 Annual Report and Financial Statements at Serena Hotel in Nairobi on June 27, 2025.
Last year the Group recorded 11 percent growth in its digital business.
Like other media houses locally and across the globe, NMG is racing to mitigate against the technological disruptions that have significantly hit revenues from advertising and copy sales.
“I leave the company in very good hands because the incoming Chairman, Joe Muganda, is a respected corporate leader and is not a stranger to NMG having served as the Group CEO. I couldn’t think of a better successor to my role as chairman other than Joe and I know he will spearhead this Group to a very high level.
The Newly appointed NMG Chief Executive, Geoffrey Odundo, has identified accelerating digital transformation and strengthening the ‘Nation’ brand as his key priorities as he starts his tenure at the helm of East Africa’s biggest news organisation.
“These are guys who will take this Group to the next level. They are energetic, they are agile, they know what they are doing, they have a good reputation in the marketplace and I feel very happy that I’m leaving this company in very able hands,”
Free market economy
Mr Odundo, joined NMG two months ago from CPF Group where he was Executive Adviser. He is also a former CEO of the Nairobi Securities Exchange.
“We are confident that the strategic initiatives we implemented will improve the company’s performance,” said Mr Odundo.
Dr Kiboro said NMG has what it takes to remain the great institution that it has always been, adding that the Group stands for a free market economy.
“We have stood very strongly in expanding the democratic space, we have stood strongly in giving space to alternative voices and these are values that I think this Group, going forward, will continue to protect,” he said.
He said the determination by those in power to suppress, gag and weaken the media is gaining momentum not just in Kenya, but across the region. “This is something that we really need to know how to navigate those kinds of waters because I think fighting for democracy, fighting for what is right is very important,” said Dr Kiboro.
He urged NMG journalists to act in a professional, responsible and patriotic manner, noting media has a big impact on what happens in the region.
“I think it is our role to ensure that democracy thrives across our region. It is our role to ensure that Africa moves in the direction that is needed, to be able to take its rightful role within the international community. Nation Media Group has the reach and capacity to ensure that African voices are heard and that Africa is able to tell its story in its own words and that is an onerous responsibility that requires us to operate at the highest level of professionalism and ethics,” he said.
