The Daily Nation newspaper is an independent and the most read Kenyan newspaper owned by Nation Media Group (NMG) Limited; A media company founded by Aga Khan IV in 1959. It has grown into the largest private media house in East and Central Africa and has been listed and traded on the Nairobi Stock Exchange since the early 1970s.
Facts about Nation Media Group and Daily Nation Newspaper
1. The Daily Nation has been around for a long time. Its inception began in 1958 as a Swahili weekly titled Taifa edited by Charles Hayes who was English who eventually sold it to Prince Karim Aga Khan IV in 1959, accompanied by a name change to a Swahili phrase meaning ‘nation today’. The English version of the newspapers eventually came out and was known as the Daily Nation and managed by East African Newspapers (Nation Series) Ltd. published, which is now Nation Media Group.
2. Daily Nation Newspaper Kenya is not only the largest newspaper in East Africa, but has a daily circulation and readership of more than 205,000 copies. The newspaper has printed copies in addition to the electronic platform that collects news and current events in Kenya and publishes them via the Internet, adding a significant number to the total number of readers.
3. The Kenyan newspaper is headquartered in the Nation Center, a prestigious 17-storey building with a magnificent architectural twin tower. The building is located in the central business district of the Kenyan capital Nairobi on Kimathi Street.
4. There are approximately 7,500 shareholders in the Daily Nation newspaper, the main shareholder of which is an agency of the Aga Khan Development Network: the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. The group has applied strategic methods in news and media marketing. Apart from selling print editions of the newspapers, digital versions of The Nation and The East African are sold to subscribers who come to the newsstand and web portals for the online editions of the daily, weekly and Sunday newspapers with links to the other titles on the other hand entertain the East African region. These web portals are accessible online and more than 3 million visitors visit the site every day. Access to the portals is free.5. Nation Media Group publishes more than 8 newspapers in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda, in addition to radio and television stations in these countries. Such publications include:
- Daily Nation
- Saturday Nation
- sunday nation
- Taifa Leo
- Taifa Jumapili
- The East African
- Business Daily
- Daily metro
6. Nation Media Group’s Daily Nation and Sunday Nation have not only grown phenomenally since their inception, but also control a huge market share in the newspaper sector. Captures up to 74% of the market and outperforms its closest competitor by a 3:1 ratio.
7. Newspapers aren’t the only thing Nation Media Group knows how to do. The media house also owns a television station (NTV) and a radio station (Easy FM). In March 2016, NMG also commissioned a new state-of-the-art printing machine on Mombasa Road in Nairobi. The new facility can reportedly print 86,000 newspapers per hour at a cost of KSh 2 billion (approx. USD 20 million).
8. Nation Media Group is actually not a “single media group”. In addition to newspapers, television and radio stations, NMG also has Nation Carriers Limited; a transport and shipping department with a well-maintained fleet of vehicles to ensure messages of NMG products are transported to where they are needed. The company recently signed a deal with TNT Worldwide Express to deliver mail and parcels outside of Kenya.
9. The Nation Newspaper also has a marketing and distribution arm called Nation Marketing and Publishing Ltd. (NM&P). Their job is to distribute various popular international magazines and newspapers such as the Economist , Times , Newsweek and Fortune magazines.
10. Nation Media Group’s broadcasting arm consists of NTV (one of the leading television channels in Kenya) which, in addition to breaking news in Kenya, also broadcasts music and video entertainment through its own channel on Youtube and Easy FM.
11. Nation Media Group is proud to trade under the symbol NMG. The Group’s shares are listed on the Nairobi Stock Exchange and listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and the Rwanda Stock Exchange. According to a report, in 2015 the company had a total of more than 10,436 shareholders — 4,135 of whom owned 1 to 500 shares, with a cumulative total of 782,157 shares controlling 0.41 percent of the company.
