Last week, TechEconomy reported the decision by the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON), the apex advertising, advertisement, and marketing communications regulatory agency of the federal government, to ban foreign talents.
The Council said the move was pⁿppaimed at growing the advertising industry
In reaction to the development, Segun Arinze, veteran actor and President of the Association of Voice Over Artists, Nigeria, in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, said the ban on foreign models and voice-over artists in Nigeria’s advertising space will save forex for Nigerian media companies and also boost Nigeria’s homegrown talents in the advertising space.
Arinze noted that Nigeria needs to protect its talent, stating that he does not think Nigeria is doing the wrong thing by providing opportunities for the talents coming up.
He also noted that Nigeria is experiencing a brain drain in the sector, adding that when the talents can’t find work within, they go outside.
“The ban is to encourage the industry, and I do not see anything wrong in that,” he said.
The ban’s impact on the industry is not the first in Africa. He said, “It is in South Africa.” It’s not strange. The impact is that we need to start having homegrown talents who need to do this and save our forex earnings. “
“So it is a whole big picture, an ongoing discussion. When Nigerian voice-over artists go out, they don’t earn even much. You need to keep everything in here.
“I am sure Hollywood and Bollywood would do the same,” he added.
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