The Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) has estimated that the nation’s advertising industry is losing over N120 billion annually to production of advertising, advertisement and marketing communication materials outside the country.
The Director-General of ARCON, Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo, who gave this figure in a statement, pointed out that the development had continued to impact negatively on the industry in terms of its growth potential and job creation opportunities.
According to him, Section 8(1)( I) of ARCON Act No 23 of 2022 empowers the Council to ensure preservation of local content and use of indigenous skills in advertising, advertisement and marketing communication materials.
In furtherance of the mandate, Fadolapo hinted that the Council would soon commence the implementation of a policy to ensure a minimum of 75 percent of the industry’s materials is produced with local content materials.
He explained further that in implementing the policy, the Council would ensure that models and voice over artistes must be Nigerians while the materials must also reflect its ambience.
Specifically, the Director-General explained that while the production crew may include foreigners, “Nigerians and Nigerian organisations must partake in the production”, adding that the proposed policy will enable Nigerians and the economy to benefit from an industry that had, over the years, enjoyed tremendous local patronage.
The industry expert projected that the implementation of the policy would create over 500,000 job opportunities annually within the advertising industry and attract new investments into the industry with the attendant positive multiplier implications for the nation’s economy.
