Photo caption: Hamzat Obafemi, Deputy Governor and representative of the Lagos State Governor (middle); flanked by Tunji Bello, Commissioner of Environment (fourth right); and Belinda Odeneye, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Environment & water resources (fourth left); during the 2021 Out-of-Home Advertising Conference and Exhibition organised by the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) in partnership with Heritage Bank, held in Lagos recently. Others are Adenike Adedoyin-Ajayi, PS Ministry of Tourism (third left); Kayode Pitan, MD of Bank of Industry (second left); and Kunle Adeniran, MD of Vatebra, (left); Jude Monye, Executive Director, Heritage Bank Plc (right); Adedamola Docemo, MD/CEO, LASAA, (second right); and Joe Igbokwe, Senior Adviser to Governor on Drainage services (third right).
The Executive Director, Heritage Bank Plc, Jude Monye said the one-way out-of-home advertising industry can attain massive growth was by adopting the public-private-partnership (PPP) model to ensure its sustainability.
Speaking at the 2021 Out-of-Home Advertising Conference and Exhibition organised by the Lagos State Signage and Advertisement Agency (LASAA) in partnership with Heritage Bank, he commended the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in Lagos for implementing the rollout of 6,000km metro fibre optics, which is the requisite infrastructure for the smart city project.
“If you have deposit money bank, that is the commercial bank coming in with huge portfolio, you will see massive growth in this industry and to crown it all for me, the governor said what I didn’t know of, all the things that the government is doing with the Fibre optic projects which are towards the smart city that LASAA has also shown to us. With that alone, the PPP model, the banks are going to key into funding this so that the industry can grow,” he noted.
Deposit money banks, he explained, are careful when lending to players in the advertising industry due to lots of unstructured issues, especially the reduction of certain risks which when tackled, will encourage intermediation by financial institutions.
Efforts by the Lagos State government to adopt digital technology, he believes, would however lead to increased patronage and rev banks’ participation in the industry
“I think lots of unstructured issues that we face and most of the banks that you see on digital media outside is not borne out of the need to advertise because it has not appealed to them, or engaging to their audience, but some of them are just paybacks for the loan that they have given,” he stressed.
The Heritage Bank boss called for an intra-ministerial integrated approach to the PPP model, which he believes would propel the lending capacity of banks.
Speaking earlier on “Road map for the Growth of Signage and Out-of-Home Advertisement post-Covid-19 in Lagos,” Governor Sanwo-Olu said Lagos was making appreciable progress in the ongoing laying of the metropolitan optic fibre, and installation of smart cameras in strategic locations across the state, stressing that the technology would help enhance and support the growth of advertising.
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by his Deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, said his administration would continue to leverage technology to transform the state’s economy while easing impediments for businesses to flourish.
The MD/CEO of LASAA, Adedamola Docemo, said the agency would be rolling out policies and programmes to improve sectoral investments, drive sustainable growth, encourage regular engagement and development of the State.
He stated that with Lagos leading its peers in Out-of-Home advertising investment in Nigeria, the industry has evolved and has consistently contributed its quota over time to the growth and development of Lagos state.
