Nigeria Moves to Ban Foreign Models in Advertisements

In a statement, the Director-General of ARCON, Dr. Olalekan Fadolaposaid:

“ARCON, being the apex advertising, advertisement and marketing communications’ regulatory agency of the Federal Government, has, in accordance with its statutory mandates, responsibilities and powers as conveyed by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act No. 23 of 2022, bans use of foreign models and voice-over artists on any advertisement targeted at the Nigerian advertising space with effect from October 1, 2022.”

In an interview with UK’s The Times Newspaper, Steve Babaeko, president of ARCON said that the new ban signified a sign of emerging national pride.

“Ten to 20 years ago if you checked the commercials, I would say they were almost 50-50 in terms of foreign faces and all the voiceovers were British accents,” Steve Babaeko said. “I think the law is just catching up with national sentiment. As long as maybe eight years ago you would notice some kind of renaissance in Nigeria.” He also pointed out that in the past, when Nigerians had projects in the pipeline that were shot abroad with foreign models, people were generally unhappy.

Babaeko went on to say that the move would strengthen Nigeria's advertising power, and he shared that Nigeria's presence in the advertising space is dominated by other African countries. The recent development has produced a polarizing effect on Nigerian social media users, with some people saying that it was a step in the right direction, and others stating that it would produce dire consequences down the line.