AKFED sells Nation Media Group stake to Rostam Azizi in landmark deal
Rostam Azizi acquires Aga Khan’s majority stake in Nation Media Group
NAIROBI, Kenya — In a seismic shift for East Africa’s media landscape, Tanzanian businessman and former politician Rostam Azizi has acquired the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development’s (AKFED) entire majority stake in the Nation Media Group (NMG), ending a six-decade era of Aga Khan ownership.
According to details confirmed from Geneva, AKFED has entered into an agreement to sell its 100 percent shareholding in NPRT Holdings Africa Limited to Taarifa Ltd., a vehicle associated with Azizi. NPRT currently holds 54.08 percent of NMG, amounting to 92,618,177 ordinary shares.
While the financial value of the transaction has not been disclosed, industry observers describe it as the most significant media ownership change in the region since NMG listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange in the 1970s.
A legacy transaction
The sale concludes AKFED’s 66-year association with NMG, which began in 1959 with the purchase of Taifa Leo. That modest Kiswahili publication was established to provide an independent voice for the African majority during the colonial era. It later grew into a multi-platform giant spanning Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda, with over 30 brands and 62 million digital users.
In an official statement, AKFED framed the sale as a handover to a buyer committed to accelerating the group’s digital transformation.
“Taarifa Ltd. is committed to supporting this transition and accelerating NMG’s digital growth, enabling the group to strengthen its connection with customers and build on its longstanding tradition of public interest journalism,” the statement read.
AKFED added that it was “proud of its contribution to building one of Africa’s most respected media institutions.”
Who is Rostam Azizi?
Rostam Azizi is a veteran Tanzanian businessman with deep ties to the corporate and political fabric of the region. He served as the vice president of Tanzania under President Jakaya Kikwete between 2005 and 2010, and has since maintained extensive investments in finance, logistics, and telecommunications across East Africa.
His entry into the media sector through the acquisition of NMG signals a major diversification. The group is currently undergoing a significant digital transition, seeking to modernize its newsrooms and expand its reach among younger, mobile-first audiences.
Market and political reaction
The deal is likely to attract scrutiny from competition authorities and media regulators in Kenya and the wider region, given NMG’s dominance as the largest independent media house in East Africa.
Media analysts have noted that while the sale represents an exit for the Aga Khan Network, it also marks the beginning of a new chapter for NMG under private, regionally-based ownership.
NMG has historically been a pillar of democratic discourse in Kenya, maintaining editorial independence through turbulent political periods, including the multiparty transition of the 1990s and the constitutional referendum in 2010.
Observers will now be watching closely to see whether Taarifa Ltd. upholds those journalistic traditions while steering the company through an increasingly competitive digital ecosystem.
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