Kenya's Advertising Spending Rebounds After Six-Month Slump

Advertisers opened their wallets again in the April-to-June quarter of the year, pushing total ad spending up 12.7% to KSh14.33 billion, following two consecutive quarters of decline that had wiped out nearly a third of the market's value, according to new industry data from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). 

• Total ad spend peaked at KSh 18.33 billion in the July-September quarter of 2025, then fell for six straight months, bottoming out at KSh 12.72 billion in the January-March quarter, a 30.6% collapse.
• Banking and Finance, the country's largest advertising category by a wide margin, grew ad spending by 13.5% to KSh 2.66 billion, recovering much of what it shed in the previous quarter. 
• Of the KSh 14.33 billion spent in the latest quarter, 55% went to television, 35% to radio, and just 9% to print, while digital ad spending reached an estimated KSh 9.12 billion, up 22% from the preceding quarter, and was dominated by Facebook.

Media, Publishing and Advertising, a category that includes marketing agencies and publishers promoting their own services grew was up 24% to KSh 2.31 billion. Food advertising more than doubled, up 117.6% to KSh 977 million, but following a quarter in which food spending had cratered to less than half its usual level. 

Agriculture and Gardening Equipment continued a steadier climb, up 36.4% and now nearly five times its spending level from a year earlier, one of the few sectors showing sustained rather than one-quarter growth. Office Supplies advertising jumped 445.6%, and Furniture and Decoration spending rose more than twelvefold, but both categories are small in absolute terms at KSh 152 million and KSh 12 million, respectively. 

On the flip side, Medicine and Health Care advertising fell 22.7% to KSh 280 million, the steepest decline among established sectors. Sport advertising fell by half and automotive spending dropped 37.3%. Transportation and Accessories, once a KSh 948 million category as recently as nine months ago, has been reduced by 97.6%. 

Where are the ads going?

Of the KSh 14.33 billion spent in the latest quarter, 55% went to television, 35% to radio, and just 9% to print. Monthly figures tracked since mid-2024 show pay-TV advertising spend falling from KSh 28 million to just KSh 100,000 by June 2026. That shift is striking because it is not mirrored in audience behavior, as pay-TV still commands roughly 17% to 18% of television viewership nationally, and closer to a quarter among viewers aged 18 to 24. 

Meanwhile, Digital ad spending reached an estimated KSh 9.12 billion in the latest quarter, up 22% from the preceding quarter. However, the digital ad spending peaked near KSh 11.76 billion in the July-September quarter, cratered to roughly KSh 6.08 billion by the following quarter, and has been climbing back unevenly since.