Brand African countries - President Mahama urges advertisers
President John Mahama has charged African countries to intensify the use of the digital technology to brand their respective countries and market their cultures, tourist sites and business climates.
He noted that Africa had tended to limit advertising to the promotion of consumer products, without giving attention to the branding of the various countries.
President Mahama made the call when he addressed the opening session of a two-day International Advertising Association (IAA) leadership conference in Accra yesterday.
The conference, on the theme: “Africa rising - the new consumer Generation”, seeks to provide an in-depth assessment and understanding of the economic, social trends and choices that consumers, brands and governments face.
The President said Africa had been portrayed as a dark continent because of the negative perception about it, adding that the narrative had been that Africa was a continent of famine, wars, corruption and brutal dictatorship.
“The fact that it was the cradle of human civilisation is lost in the narrative,” he said.
Happily, he said, the narrative had been changing as African countries were using tools of communication to tell the success stories of the continent.
President Mahama said today, Africa was seen as a rising continent because the continent was making strides in digital communication and overtaking some developed countries in the use of digital technology.
Besides, he said, the continent had made progress in the areas of health, education and political participation, and said for example that Ghana scored high on the World Bank report for doing business.
Advertising bill
Focusing attention on Ghana, President Mahama said the government was introducing an advertising bill to regulate the growing advertising and marketing industry in the country.
He said the bill, which was being prepared in collaboration with the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG), would soon be presented to Parliament for consideration.
Advertising/marketing
President Mahama said advertising, marketing, public relations and event management were thriving businesses in the country and presented a lot of opportunities for expansion in the services sector.
The President said Ghana also had a good brand, as the country was being referred to as the model of democracy in Africa and the gateway to Africa.
Therefore, he said, there was the need for the country to leverage “all these positives and our strengths and showcase them to the world”.
AAG response
The President of AAG, Mr Joel Nettey, underscored the need for Africa to change the negative narrative about the continent through the power of advertising and marketing.
“Today, as much as the narrative is yet to change completely, every savvy business the world over knows that Africa is the new frontier,” he said.
Mr Nettey said the conference was taking place at a time when African brands, such as Ecobank, MTN, Standard Bank (Stanbic Bank), Dangote and Kasapreko had successfully taken the African successful stories across borders.
The Chairman and President of IAA, Mr Faris Abouhamad, expressed the hope that the conference would equip the participants with the needed insight “to navigate the market of Africa”.
The IAA confered an honorary life member of the IAA on President Mahama.
