The Nigerian Advertising Regulatory Council said the nation’s advertising industry loses more than 120 billion naira a year due to the production of advertising, publicity and marketing communication materials outside the country.
ARCON Director General Dr. Olalekan Fadolapo had this to say in a statement made available to the Nigerian News Agency in Abuja on Monday.
He said that the development has continuously led to job losses, as well as retarded the growth and development of the advertising industry.
According to Fadolapo, the current efforts of the Federal Government in terms of job creation, inclusive growth and development are negatively affected by the trend.
He said that Section 8 (1) (I) of the ARCON Act No. 23 of 2022 empowered the council to ensure the preservation of local content and the use of indigenous skills in advertising, publicity and marketing communication materials .
Fadolapo said the council would begin implementation of a policy to ensure a minimum of 75 percent cumulative local content for all materials.
In implementing the policy, he said the models and voice actors must be Nigerian, while the materials must also be made in the country and reflect its environment.
Fadolapo also said that while the production team may include foreigners, “Nigerians and Nigerian organizations must be involved in the production.”
He added that the policy would allow Nigerians and the economy to benefit from an industry that had enjoyed tremendous local patronage.
The CEO also said the policy would create more than 500,000 new job opportunities annually within the advertising industry with a positive multiplier effect on the economy.
The new policy, he added, would attract investment to the industry while discouraging capital flight.
YAYA
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