East Africa: Nation Media Group Posts $1.9m Loss Amid Ad Slump, Restructuring Costs

17 April 2025
Daba Finance (Abidjan)

TLDR

  • Nation Media Group (NMG), Kenya's largest media company, reported a record net loss of $1.9 million (KES 254.4 million) for 2024
  • The loss, up 27% from the $1.5 million posted in 2023, comes despite an 11% rise in digital subscriptions
  • Revenue declined 12.5% to $48 million (KES 6.23 billion), with the company citing inflation, reduced consumer spending, and weak advertising demand

Nation Media Group (NMG), Kenya's largest media company, reported a record net loss of $1.9 million (KES 254.4 million) for 2024, its worst performance in over a decade. The loss, up 27% from the $1.5 million posted in 2023, comes despite an 11% rise in digital subscriptions. The board has suspended dividends for the year.

Revenue declined 12.5% to $48 million (KES 6.23 billion), with the company citing inflation, reduced consumer spending, and weak advertising demand. Print and broadcast segments took the biggest hit, while digital revenues grew, driven by higher online traffic--62.4 million users, up from 60.2 million.

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NMG is accelerating its digital-first strategy, investing in online platforms and new content formats to adapt to shifting consumer habits. The group will maintain a print presence in profitable areas but is doubling down on expanding digital distribution.

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Key Takeaways

Nation Media Group's performance reflects broader media industry challenges in Africa, where macroeconomic shocks and platform migration are pressuring traditional revenue models. The group's record loss, despite digital gains, highlights how rising online readership hasn't translated to comparable ad revenue. While online subscriptions are growing, legacy costs tied to print, high inflation, and shifting ad spend toward digital platforms like Meta and Google continue to erode margins. Kenya's inflation rate, averaging 7.9% in Q4 2024, drove up costs for essentials and constrained advertiser budgets. With media consumption shifting rapidly online, NMG's next chapter will depend on its ability to convert scale into sustainable digital revenue--through subscriptions, programmatic ad sales, and alternative monetization like branded content or e-commerce integrations. As pressure mounts, successful digital transformation may hinge not only on tech investment but also on reducing legacy costs and rethinking monetization beyond traditional ad-based models.

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