Aga Khan IV

Notable work and positions

Nation Media Group - Founder
Aga Khan Development Network - Founder and Former Chairman

Biography

Shah Karim al-Hussaini, known as Aga Khan IV (1936-2025), was the 49th Imam of Nizari Ismaili Shia Islam from 1957 until his death in February 2025, and founder of Nation Media Group, the largest private media house in East and Central Africa. In 1959, through the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED), he founded East African Newspapers (Nation Series) Ltd., acquiring the Kiswahili-language weekly Taifa Leo with the aim of providing Kenya a free, independent press ahead of the country's transition to independence. The first issue of the Daily Nation was published on March 20, 1960. Nation Media Group became one of the first African media companies to list on a securities exchange, trading on the Nairobi Stock Exchange since 1973, and expanded into broadcast media in 1999 with the launch of NTV Kenya and Easy FM (now Nation FM). Under his direction, the group expanded regionally through the 2002-2005 acquisition of the Daily Monitor in Uganda and the establishment of Mwananchi Communications in Tanzania, and in 2016 he inaugurated a $20 million printing press, then the largest media investment in the history of East and Central Africa. By the time AKFED sold its shareholding in 2026, NMG had grown into a multi-platform conglomerate of more than 30 brands across four countries with a digital audience exceeding 62 million users. The Aga Khan Development Network, which he founded, also established the Aga Khan University's Graduate School of Media and Communications in 2015, which trains journalists, communicators, and media executives across East Africa.

Career highlights

• Founded Nation Media Group 1959 · Grew into East and Central Africa's largest private media house, spanning newspapers, television, and radio across four countries.
• Launched the Daily Nation March 20, 1960.
• Founded the Aga Khan University Graduate School of Media and Communications 2015 · A leading source of journalism education and training in East Africa.