NAIROBI, Kenya- In an unprecedented move highlighting the pressure on Kenyan media, Safaricom, Kenya’s telecom giant, has suspended advertising on all Nation Media Group (NMG) platforms following recent critical coverage of the company.
This break from NMG-owned publications, including Daily Nation, Business Daily, and The East African, underscores the financial repercussions of independent journalism in Kenya’s tightening media landscape.
NMG’s recent investigative reports appear to have fueled the advertising freeze, specifically a Daily Nation report on October 29, which alleged that Safaricom had shared user data—calls, texts, and location information—without proper consent.
Safaricom firmly denied the claims, but the story marked a tipping point in the relationship between the two companies.
One week after the report’s release, Safaricom placed ads in The Standard and The Star, publicly reaffirming its commitment to customer privacy in an apparent response to Daily Nation’s allegations.
This move also extended to Safaricom’s half-year financial report, which the company usually publishes in NMG outlets but this time chose to release elsewhere.
According to industry insiders, Safaricom’s influence in the market is substantial, and it has occasionally suspended ads over critical coverage, but it has never fully skipped publishing financial statements with NMG since its 2008 IPO.
With Safaricom’s estimated monthly advertising budget of Sh619.2 million, this shift could significantly impact NMG’s revenues, especially amid an industry-wide dip in ad spending by banks, telcos, and the government.
This decline has already put pressure on many Kenyan media houses to soften their tone or risk losing valuable advertisers.
And while Safaricom has not publicly commented on its advertising decisions, reports indicate that company representatives recently visited several Kenyan newsrooms to encourage toned-down coverage, meeting with senior editors and journalists.
The ripple effects of this pressure extend beyond Kenya’s borders.
In October, NMG’s Tanzanian subsidiary, Mwananchi Communications, faced challenges after the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) suspended its websites over an animated ad that referenced sensitive political issues, including abductions and killings of opposition groups.
This latest incident underscores the shifting dynamics between Kenyan media and corporate advertisers, with NMG experiencing intensified financial challenges in the face of shrinking ad budgets and a push towards digital-first content.
Media experts warn that this clash with Safaricom, a major advertiser, could be a pivotal moment, testing the resilience of independent journalism in Kenya and the financial viability of critical reporting.
As the media landscape continues to evolve, the need for independent journalism remains critical, even as publications like NMG face economic pressures and shifting alliances in a complex digital age.
