Govt to Re-Brand Ghana

The government of Ghana is exploring strategies to re-brand Ghana and make it 'a unique selling point in the West African sub-region.'

To achieve this aim, the government will engage the Advertising Association Ghana (AAG) to conceptualize what Ghana stands for and come out with a re-branding strategy that will give the country 'a uniform look and feel.'

The Minister for Information, Mr Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, made the point when the Advertising Association of Ghana (AAG) paid a courtesy call on him Wednesday, to congratulate him on his appointment.

Mr Abdul-Hamid said government was already in talks with some companies to help Ghana get a uniform image and assured AAG that it was going to be a part of that effort to reposition the country, re-brand and make it 'a unique selling point in the West African sub-region.'

Earlier, the President of the AAG, Mr Joel E. Nettey, had implored the minister to support the association to get the Advertising Standards Bill reintroduced in parliament and passed, citing the unregulated nature of the industry leading to clutter of billboards all over the capital city.

He also cited the timing of some adverts on both radio and TV to support the need for the bill to regulate both members and non-members of the association. He added that the bill was laid before parliament in September 2016 and gone through the first reading before the 6th parliament rose.

On taxation, Mr Nettey said the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) expects that the day invoices were issued to clients, the value of those invoices should be paid at the end of the month. However, the association clientele use between three and six months, depending on the advertising campaign, to make full payment to its members. The association therefore pleaded with the minister to intervene on its behalf for a review of the current payment structure.

Responding, Mr Abdul-Hamid said it was important that the country had an Advertising Standards Bill to sanitise the advertising space, and was particularly worried about the many unsightly billboards in Accra, saying they were not giving a good image to the country.

He also promised to arrange a meeting between the GRA and the AAG to rationalize the payment of taxes, cautioning however that should the GRA agree to the proposal the association must also leave up to their obligation.

Source: ISD (Sule N. Jotie)

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