Slow and unreliable internet connection in most of Africa has ensured that print news, which has been quickly shrinking in more developed worlds, is still king on the continent with sale of newspaper in countries like Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa rising in recent years.

According to a Reuters report, East Africa’s largest newspaper publisher Nation Media Group (NMG) recently invested $20 million in a new printing press to meeting growing demand for its flagship daily newspaper, Daily Nation.

NMG’s digital division gets more than 90 million hits each month, making it the largest website by traffic in the region. It  has however not managed turn this hits into revenue, with the digital side only contributing 5 percent to its total revenue.

The Nairobi Securities Exchange listed company runs about 15 websites lead by its flagship portal nation.co.ke. Others under its wing include Business Daily, The East Africa and Africa Review.

“We shall continue to invest in digital platforms knowing fully well that this is the future of media,” Joe Muganda, NMG’s chief executive officer, told Business Daily.

“But people are still buying newspapers,” he added.

While there has been an increase in social media use in Africa, limited access to the internet and limited freedom of expression and information has made it difficult for media outlets to monetize their online user clicks.

Advertisers are are also not willing to allocate a bigger size of their budget on digital because they still do not fully understand how the digital space works.

Unlike in the US where a user profile like that of NMG’s digital division will get advertisers flocking to place their products on the website, in Africa many companies looking to advertise will most likely target newspapers, radio and TV rather than online.

Most internet users in Africa access news on their mobile phones through social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp and Instagram. Their click through rate on news links posted on this sites is still very low as they don’t want to waste their data bundles on news site rather than connect with friends and family.

According to former NMG chief executive Linus Gitai, the blame on low revenue from online news is squarely placed on “old journalists and editors”.

“[They] still cling to good old newspaper and do not have time for Facebook, Twitter and digital media in general,” Gitai said in an opinion piece.

“They, like the American and European counterparts, are watching circulation go down and mourning in a little corner. In a next room would be young, enterprising digital journalists busy driving audiences without a clue how revenue can be made.”