(Business in Cameroon) - Minister of Communication René Emmanuel Sadi recently published a list of 155 companies authorized to carry out advertising consulting and advertising services in Cameroon this year.

Specifically, 57 companies are approved in the "advertising consulting" category. They include  Ascese, CBM Strategies, Cyclone, MC Cann Douala, MCK Conseil, Spectrum, Iboga, Fraizer, etc. According to the legislation in force, only advertising consulting agencies can formulate strategies for advertisers and carry out advertising campaigns on those advertisers’ behalf.  

Meanwhile, 98 companies have been authorized as advertising agencies. They are Acmar Media, Afrique Pluriel, Bantoo, Cameroon Publi Expansion, Coral Media Africa, JC Decaux Cameroun, Régie 2, and Tyrex Communication. As such, they can connect advertisers with media companies with advertising spaces available.

According to the official, only the companies authorized and those mentioned by Decision No. 092/Mincom/Cnp/ of December 31, 2020, are allowed to carry out advertising consulting and advertising services from January 15 to December 31, 2021. Also, the remaining companies should present individual approval documents, the official adds.

This list contains more companies than there were six years ago. For in 2015, 85 advertisers (including 28 consulting agencies and 57 advertisers) were approved, almost double of the numbers approved in 2015.

Although this increase shows growth in the advertising market, some people think that Mincom's accreditation is not really effective.  "Many companies have come to understand that the accreditation of the Ministry of Communication is a gimmick. The market is not regulated. The law prohibits the broadcaster from directly taking advertising jobs from the advertiser. But who respects that? The advertising market is just a mess. This is why some companies won’t renew their 2-year approvals," said an expert of the market.  

The Mincom, for its part, believes that these approvals do regulate the market because any offender could pay monetary fines of up to XAF2 million.

S.A.