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In recent years, many expected African digital publishing to consolidate. The assumption was that declining ad revenue and shrinking platform traffic would push smaller publishers to merge into larger, more resilient companies.
Current data does not support this theory. There have been no major mergers and acquisitions of digital publishers by traditional media houses, no successful roll-up vehicles, and no private equity firms entering the market focused on the publishing sector. Instead, we see a situation where publishers are shutting print and going dark digitally, capital flowing to adjacent businesses such as data and enterprise intelligence, and media assets being sold off individually rather than merged. The remaining publishers are evolving into fundamentally different types of businesses.
The two biggest transactions in the sector involved selling off parts of the business rather than consolidation. First, Media24, a leading South African company with interests in digital media and services, sold off its "non-core" assets to Novus, a major South African printing and publishing group. Media24's aim was to offload its underperforming legacy print assets and focus solely on digital publishing. Second, after 22 years, the Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF) exited the Mail & Guardian, a large South African weekly newspaper, by selling its stake back to local insiders. Neither deals created a new, large-scale digital publishing leader. Both were simply cases of investors exiting the physical print market, and in the Mail and Guardian’s case, owners moving out to alleviate financial distress and bring in new capital to fund digital publishing.
Is the Naspers/Media24 restructuring a sign for the future of African digital publishing?
Media24, which is owned by Naspers, a South African media company, is the clearest example of where African commercial publishing is heading as it shifts from print to digital. To survive, the company has taken aggressive cost-cutting actions rather than consolidation. In 2024, it closed the print editions of Beeld, Rapport, City Press, and Daily Sun. It also sold On the Dot, Soccer Laduma, Kick Off and community papers portfolio to Novus. By early 2026, Media24 planned to shut down City Press’s digital newsroom. These moves demonstrate a focus on cutting costs to ensure survival in a challenging market.
The financial figures confirm this decline. Naspers reported that Media24’s revenue fell from $175 million to $141 million in FY2025. Adjusted EBIT also swung from a $1 million profit to a $15 million loss. Even though digital subscriptions for News24 grew to over 100,000 paying users, making it Africa’s largest subscription news site, this growth couldn't offset the drop in advertising revenue across the company.
The main takeaway is that even the most advanced commercial news business in Africa hasn't found a way to make digital subscription profitable as advertising revenue declines. This is a clear signal for the whole digital publishing industry. If the strongest scaled publisher is reducing its assets and focusing on survival instead of buying competitors, then it is unlikely that any other players will consolidate the sector.
Does the MDIF Exit from the Mail & Guardian signal the commercial ceiling for African digital publishing?
The Mail & Guardian case confirms the fragmentation trend. In October 2024, the MDIF sold its majority stake in the paper to insiders, former CEO Hoosain Karjieker and director Thembisa Fakude in order to attract new capital for future development and return control to local leadership. This exit is telling because MDIF is an expert media financier with $158 million in assets under management, and has invested $316 million in 152 media businesses globally since 1996. When such an experienced investor leaves without finding a buyer, it proves the asset has hit its commercial ceiling.
By May 2025, Mail & Guardian staff received Section 189 retrenchment notices. Daily Maverick reported that about half of the 25-person newsroom faced layoffs, with 12 redundancies expected across 24 positions. Print sales had plummeted to just about 4,900 copies per issue, compared to 50,000–60,000 per issue in better years.
These series of events signal that a foreign Development Finance Institution (DFI) cannot support a publisher forever if there is no way to become profitable. This shows the market is not getting ready for mergers to grow bigger. Instead, it is a publishing market struggling to keep editorial teams together after the funding has stopped.
Which digital publishing models will survive in Africa in future?
The companies surviving in African digital publishing are not following one single model. Instead, there are three different types of businesses that all happen to publish on the web.
The first model is B2B data and intelligence subscriptions. Stears, a Lagos-based data and market intelligence company, shifted from consumer news to business intelligence in 2023 to meet high demand for professional information. TechCabal reports that major clients like the UNDP and Citibank already accounted for 75% of its revenue before this pivot. Other clients include the European Investment Bank, Infracredit, PZ Cussons, and Piggyvest. By November 2025, Stears launched the Stears-VP Liquidity Index, a market-infrastructure tool for private capital. This indicates that selling African market data to global LPs/GPs (Limited Partners and General Partners) is a much bigger addressable market than selling general news to African consumers.
The second model is reader-funded membership. Daily Maverick, a South African online news publication is the best example of this, though its success is hard to copy. WAN-IFRA, a global organization that represents news publishers and media companies, reported that membership subscriptions now provide 40% of Daily Maverick’s revenue, with active members growing by 75% in just over two years. Their own data shows the size of this operation: the company has 120 staff members and reaches 14 million readers. In 2025, they reported 2.5 million monthly unique visitors, 1.17 million registered users, and 32,400 "Maverick Insiders." This is not the typical ad-funded news model, instead, it is a system where readers pay voluntarily because they see journalism as a vehicle for public service.
The third model is offshore-funded, events-led intelligence media, best illustrated by Semafor Africa. In its first year, Semafor Africa said it had gained over 100,000 newsletter subscribers and almost 500,000 monthly web visitors. By year two, Semafor said it had surpassed 750,000 newsletter subscriptions and created a global convening business focused on high-value audiences. According to an Adweek report, over half of Semafor's revenue now comes from events. Reuters reported Semafor raked in $40 million in 2025 revenue. As a result, Semafor Africa is more than just a publisher, but also an information and events business.
Why is capital moving from traditional publishing to specialized services?
Investment patterns confirm this split from generic news to specialized services. One major event was Big Cabal Media’s $2.3 million seed round in March 2022. This was significant because very few similar deals have happened since. According to Africa The Big Deal, a database platform tracking startup funding, African startups raised $2.2 billion in full-year 2024 which is down 25% year-over-year. African startups raised $1.4 billion in H1 2025. However, the database does not track venture capital funding to digital media as a separate category. This signals that the sector’s funding flow is not hugely significant. Luminate, a prominent media funder has not been visible in subsequent named rounds. In addition, Stears pivot to B2B services is funded by enterprise subscriptions, not media venture capital.
This shift explains why investment has moved into related services. Big Cabal created Cabal Creative and an events division. Stears focused on enterprise intelligence for businesses. Semafor made live journalism a core part of its operations. Capital is not leaving African publishing; it is simply moving away from traditional publishing and toward adjacent services that generate revenue from targeted audiences, expert knowledge, or exclusive access.
What are the key implications of atomisation for investors and operators?
For investors, the takeaway is clear. Stop waiting for big mergers in African digital publishing. There are very few deals happening, and there aren't enough buyers. The struggles of Media24 and the Mail & Guardian show that the sector is shrinking and restructuring rather than growing through mergers. The real opportunities are in services related to publishing, such as data, events, research, branded content, and business-to-business services.
For operators, generic news models are no longer viable. Success requires choosing a specialized business model from launch: enterprise intelligence, mission-driven memberships, or events-led media. Africa has plenty of readers, but it lacks a sustainable business model for general news. Instead of becoming a few big publishers, the sector is splitting into smaller, specialized firms with very distinct ways of making money.
