The Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development S.A., part of the Aga Khan Development Network, has agreed to sell its entire stake in Nation Media Group to a company controlled by Tanzanian businessman Rostam Abdulrasul Azizi.
The decision ends a long chapter. Sixty-six years.
AKFED said Tuesday it had reached an agreement to sell its full shareholding in NPRT Holdings Africa Limited to Taarifa Ltd. NPRT currently holds a 54.08 percent stake in Nation Media Group, the region’s largest independent media company.
The shift transfers controlling interest in the Nairobi-based publisher to Taarifa Ltd, which is owned by Azizi, a Tanzanian billionaire with investments across media, mining, telecommunications, agriculture, real estate, port facilities, energy and construction.
The relationship between AKFED and Nation Media Group dates to 1959. That year, Aga Khan IV backed the creation of the company with a specific mission: to support “a free and independent press” in Kenya. The venture began modestly, publishing a Kiswahili-language newspaper, Taifa Leo.
Over time it grew into a regional media network with operations across East Africa.
The parties framed the sale as a transition rather than a departure from the group’s editorial mission. According to a joint statement from AKFED and Taarifa Ltd, the media house is “now poised” for expansion through investment in technology. The statement pointed to “digital transformation” and the need to accelerate “digital growth.”
The document described Taarifa Ltd as “committed to supporting this transition.” The goal, it said, is to help the company strengthen “its connection with customers” while continuing what the partners called a “long-standing tradition” of public-interest journalism.
Regulatory approvals still lie ahead. The companies expect the transaction to close within three to four months.
Then comes the ownership structure.
Taarifa Ltd said it does not plan to acquire the remaining publicly traded shares of Nation Media Group. It also said it has no intention to delist the company from the exchanges where it is currently traded.
Those markets span the region: the Nairobi Securities Exchange, the Uganda Securities Exchange, the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange and the Rwanda Stock Exchange.
For Nation Media Group, the deal signals a change in stewardship.
For AKFED, it closes an association that began with a single newspaper and evolved into one of East Africa’s most influential media institutions.
