The list of authorised advertising companies in the country was made public recently.

Advertising is a sector that attracts many Cameroonian business operators. The 2006 law on advertising stipulates that for any publicity to be carried out, the advertising company must fulfil the necessary conditions according to article seven of the law and then obtain an authorisation from the Minister of Communication who doubles as president of the National Advertising Council.

However, the sector has been plagued with a lot of cacophony over the years. In order to revamp the sector, the Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary, recently signed an order listing the different advertising agencies which have been authorised to function from September 9, 2011 to September 8, 2012. According to the law, only the authorised companies and advertising agencies have the mandate and capacity to carry out advertising during the said period. The law stipulates that regional delegates for communication are in charge of implementing the present decision. The law also states that the decision annuls that of June 2010.

A source at the Ministry of Communication said many corporations and private advertising companies refuse to respect the existing rules and regulations of the sector. The source said the decision will be strict during the campaign period because many companies will be solicited by political parties. The source however said advertising companies that have authorisations from the Ministry of Communication will have to sign an agreement with officials of political parties and present them to the Ministry of Communication before they can be allowed to function. “We facilitate work for them so that we can follow up and control them in order to avoid any hitches. If there are enterprises which don’t follow the regulations, we can sanction them,” the source said.