Wilfred Kiboro

After receiving his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Nairobi, he began his career as a Technical Sales Engineer for Shell International, and was swiftly promoted to Technical Sales Manager, in charge of the manufacturing, sales and marketing of industrial and road construction products in the East and Central Africa region.

Kiboro joined Esso Kenya Ltd. in 1974 as a Supply, Planning and Economics Manager, where he started gaining both managerial and executive recognition. He gained several positions including Personnel Director and Sales/Marketing Director.

He joined Xerox Kenya in 1987 and was appointed the managing director of the company in 1989. He held this position until he joined the Nation Media Group in 1993.

Kiboro joined Nation Media Group (abbreviated as NMG) in 1993 as the managing director Designate of the Nation newspaper. At the time it's only two products were the Daily Nation and Taifa Leo (a Kenyan Kiswahili newspaper, meaning Nation Today).

In line with ongoing regional integration efforts, the NMG launched The East African in 1994, the most successful cross-border newspaper in East Africa, hitting the news-stands of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and now Rwanda. Kiboro became the Group CEO in 1995 and retained his position until his retirement in 2006.

In 1999, the NMG made their entry into the electronic media industry after many years of frustration due to policy inadequacies and hostility by the then Government of Kenya under Daniel arap Moi. Nation FM and Nation TV were formed that year. Since then, the NMG has developed into a respected conglomerate around East Africa under Kiboro's tenure. It is divided into:

• The Nation Newspapers Division
• The Nation Broadcasting Division
• Nation Carriers Ltd (with Courier)
• Nation Marketing & Publishing:
  • Business Directory
  • The Weekly Advertiser
  • Distribution of local and international publications such as the Economist, Time, Newsweek among others
• East African Magazines
• Monitor Publications Ltd.
• Mwananchi Communications Ltd.[1]

The NMG has also taken advantage of the communications technology explosion to send news to their subscribers, in partnership with Safaricom and Airtel, leading mobile operators in Kenya.

Kiboro has travelled extensively, holding numerous national, regional and international job assignments that have seen him supervise cross-national teams across continents, a vote of confidence in his abilities as a change manager. He has dedicated his life to serving his country. As evidenced by the record of posts he has held and continues to hold with a view to contributing to Kenya's growth and development. Internationally, Wilfred Kiboro is the chairman of the International Press Institute (IPI) in Kenya, the East African Business Summit and a member of the International Who's Who of Professionals. He also sits on The Rhodes Trust in Kenya as Honorary chairman and is a member of the International Organisation of Employers' Enterprise Advisory Group. He launched numerous environmental and humanitarian efforts during his tenure at NMG, two key ones being:

• The launching of the Aberdare Forest Fund in 2002 [2]
• The launching of the Nation Turkana Relief Fund in 1999/2000[3]

• Elder of the Order of the Burning Spear
• Leadership Shines Through – Africa
• ICT Hall of Fame – 2007 Lifetime Inductee