Kenyan Nation Media Group appoints new board chairman

Mr Wilfred Kiboro has been elected chairman of the Nation Media Group's [NMG] board of directors.

He takes over from Dr Martin Aliker, who has retired after two years at the helm of east and central Africa's largest media company.

In choosing Mr Kiboro, the board, which met on Thursday [24 September], agreed that the new chairman should be someone with an understanding of present and future developments in traditional and emerging media.

Mr Kiboro was NMG's group chief executive officer for 13 years until 2006. He also served on the board of the International Press Institute [IPI] for seven years, including being its chairman for two terms, during which the IPI World Congress was held in Kenya.

Mr Kiboro is also the chairman of the Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd and a non-executive director of East African Breweries Ltd.

Dr Aliker, who joined the board of NMG in 2001, remains chairman of Monitor Publications Ltd, a subsidiary of NMG in Uganda.

He is also the chairman of Heritage Oil and Gas company, Hima Cement and National Insurance Corporation, all based in Uganda.

The Nation Media Group has evolved over 49 years from a single-title Kenyan newspaper company to a regional multimedia giant with interests in print, digital and broadcast platforms.

Its wholly-owned subsidiary, Mwananchi Communications, publishes three titles in Tanzania. It also has majority interests in Uganda's main independent newspaper, The Monitor, as well as the Kampala-based radio station, KFM and NTV Uganda.

NMG also publishes five newspapers in Kenya, including the Daily Nation and Sunday Nation, and also runs NTV, QFM, Easy FM and various information websites.