The outdoor sector is a key part of the advertising industry in Ghana, generating between $60 million USD per year, according to 6W Research. This figure covering static billboards, digital billboards, transit advertising, etc., contributes over 20% of the total advertising spend (including broadcast, print, and digital). Traditionally, the leading agencies in this sector are predominantly members of the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG). However, in recent years, there has been some level of ‘insurgency’ of non-AAG members and players from the local assemblies themselves who have turned the sector into a complete jungle across Accra, Kumasi, Sekondi-Takoradi, Koforidua, and other cities in Ghana.

The ‘jungle’ and free-for-all situation has been largely due to the lack of enforcement of the existing outdoor advertising specifications developed by the Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), together with the AAG itself years back. Apart from the advertising specifications developed by the GSA, there are no proper statutes or regulatory frameworks to manage the mess being created in the outdoor advertising sector.

However, the new Director-General of the National Road Safety Authority, Abraham Amaliba, seems to have introduced some level of urgency to sanitize the system, with footprints of cleaning up the billboard mess within Accra for road safety purposes. Seeing the new zeal of the National Road Safety Authority, the Advertising Association of Ghana has joined forces with the authority to form a joint technical team that would advise the NRSA on both business-conducive and enduring ways to clean up the sector.

On top of its partnership with the National Road Safety Authority, the Advertising Association of Ghana has also formed joint-technical teams with some assemblies within Accra, including the Korley-Klottey Municipal Assembly, the Ayawaso North Municipal Assembly, and the La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly, to specifically manage and sanitize the outdoor advertising environments within those assemblies. These efforts by the AAG are meant to assist in ensuring that the recent moves by the government to bring sanity into Ghana’s outdoor advertising space become successful, beginning from the capital city, Accra.