APCON set to bare its fangs at the digital sector
If feelers emanating from the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, are anything to go by, then operators in the digital marketing space may soon be subject to strict guidelines, as the Federal Government is working at establishing a regulatory framework for the segment.
According to a Thisday report, the Acting Registrar of APCON, Ijedi Philomena Iyoha, recently hinted at this in Ghana, at the third Africa Leadership Conference, organised by the International Advertising Association, IAA.
Mrs. Iyoha admitted that digital revolution has become a major challenge for advertising regulation, adding that government, through APCON and other stakeholders have started making move to put a framework in place to address the abnormal situation.
The Acting Registrar’s view was delivered during a panel discussion on the theme: “Brand Blocking: Regulations and Threats to Consumer Choices and Goods” — she maintained that there was nothing like digital when the Nigerian advertising code was put together hence the need for review.
“Much as I agree that digital is a blessing, I’m concerned about its threat to advertising regulation because a lot of unregulated messages are being churned out by bloggers and influencers on products to deceive consumers and regulators have almost become helpless,” she said.
Continuing, she said, “There is code of advertising in Nigeria but it was dated back to many years before digital revolution. Of course, this is a global phenomenon, but like other countries, Nigeria is set to put a framework in place to check the abuse of the digital platform.”
On the first day of the conference, the IAA Global President, Srinivasan K. Swarmy, expressed concern that data privacy had become a serious concern for advertisers and that the industry could collapse if the recent regulations on the issue are not revised.
He argued that data protection issues based on digital advertising needed urgent attention before more stringent regulations are passed.
“Considering data privacy, it has been an area of serious concern for advertisers. Many regulators are coming to play to deal with this area. This challenge, if not addressed, must be addressed, will be a problem for advertising companies,” he stated.
Also speaking at the conference, the Vice president and Area Director of Africa, Norkor Duah, charged all advertising firms to create footprints in the various economies they represent and that practitioners should embrace new trends in technology so as to remain relevant.
He added that without effective regulation, the advertising industry can’t forge ahead, adding that new technological trends keep emerging and regulators must tap into this for the good of the industry.
Earlier, the Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, used the occasion to announce June 2020 as the deadline for all government agencies and ministries in the country to go cashless.
Dr Bawumia said mobile money payments interoperability system that allows the transfer of funds from mobile money accounts to bank accounts (back-to-back) and from mobile or bank accounts to biometric payment card accounts (ezwich) means practically, every Ghanaian can enjoy banking services, in fulfillment of the pledge to give every Ghanaian access to a bank account.
“Mobile Money Interoperability has provided most of the unbanked and under banked with access to a transaction account that serves as a gateway to other financial services.”
“If you have a Mobile Money (MoMo) account in Ghana you are no longer excluded from the financial system. Every user of a MoMo account can now use that account like a traditional bank account. Since a mobile money account now functions like a bank account we can confidently say that Ghana has solved the problem of basic financial inclusion. It is in this context that we said previously that Mobile Money Interoperability will give every Ghanaian access to a bank account,” he explained.
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