62 million NMG digital users raises appetite for business
NMG Group Chairman, Mr Wilfred Kiboro (right) addresses some of the CEOs from different organisations who turned up for the Group's breakfast meeting on April 16, 2025 at Kampala Serena Hotel. PHOTO | MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- NMG prides in a rich asset of information, pictures, and various data that different corporate organisations have been asked to access as they shape policy formulations and implementation
Nation Media Group (NMG)’s statistics reveal a surge in engagement across their digital platforms, a development that business leaders say creates a fresh avenue to connect with potential customers and boost revenue. Mr Geoffrey Odundo, the new NMG Chief Executive Officer (CEO), told business leaders in a Wednesday meeting in Kampala that the Group’s digital platform users are now 62 million.
“With that, we are cognizant that we should develop very rich content. We also aim to monetise our digital assets. NMG has a very rich asset of information, pictures, and various data that you might want to access,” he observed. “Today, we are telling you corporates that if you want to reach those audiences that are using or interacting with very many devices, the NMG provides you with that access because our information will travel within seconds on multiple platforms through our digital plus strategy," he added. Mr Sam Barata, the NMG Uganda General Manager for Commercial, expounded that the group is present in the entire East African region; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda.
The interactions are through TVs, radios, newspapers, websites, and social media platforms. “The new thing we bring to the market is our digital footprint. We've got 15.3 million users across our digital footprint in Uganda,” he told the meeting. “And we are now bringing this forward to our clients to use it to enhance their relationship, to enhance the interaction with this client base and be able to tell the stories of the goods and services they offer to them and be able to get them to use them better," he added.
Ms Goretti Masadde, the CEO of the Uganda Institute of Banking and Financial Services, during the meeting, expressed optimism about the NMG digital footprint’s potential in development. She said it would aid research in the country. “On the issue of data, I thank you so much for thinking about commercialising that. A lot of the time, people don't want to get into research because it's such a hard subject, trying to find information,” she said. “I think when I hear what it used to be in the 70s, and what it is now. So, we need people who can go back in the 70s and establish these facts and bring us back to reality.
So, I think that that's also an amazing journey of commercialising data. I know that even in the financial services, you would like to have data, but it's not available. So for me, it's exciting," she added. Mr Godfrey Sebaana, the CEO of Diamond Trust Bank, on the other hand, said the Group’s digital assets would be essential in developing better business policies. He also expressed commitment to continue partnering with the group. “When you talked about your deep research and data that you have and that you can go back in time to show us where the world is heading, I think that is very rich, and it can help us to guide our policy formulation to ensure that at least we stay true to mother nature and a lot more friendly in the way we administer our Capital,” he observed.
New products Mr Barata also revealed that they have developed different products that businesses can take advantage of through partnership deals to reach communities and create impact. “We're launching our Newspaper in Education (NiE) products. It will largely focus on the secondary school component of the education system and try to give better input and give better value. We believe we now can create content that will enhance and complement the teaching in classes, and this will be launched next month,” he said. NiE is a Young Reader Development initiative that involves the use of newspapers in schools for the purposes of improving literacy and developing a reading culture among children.
The NiE programme also aims to create social awareness and good citizenry among children through newspaper reading. “We can put in some content inside there that helps students understand these concepts around banking and insurance early in life, so by the time they come up to use them, they understand them,” Mr Barata told business leaders. He also said they are doing work around youth skilling.
“There is a big opportunity to partner here, where we think we can develop vocational education and develop essential skills,” Mr Barata said. “We are now going into co-creation, to design and roll out campaigns in a way that looks natural, we have got that ability,” he added.
