The telecommunication sector of the economies of Nigeria and Ghana has been identified as the highest spender on above-the-line advertising in 2009. This was one of the conclusions contained in the just released Mediafacts Addendum, a comprehensive analysis of above the line (ATL) advertising spends in Nigeria and Ghana, produced and released by a Nigerian media Independent agency – MediaReach OMD. In the report, with a copy made available to THISDAY, the agency stated that in Nigeria, the telecommunication sector accounted for N15.096 billion in the total spends of N90.92 billion, while in Ghana, the sector recorded 43.5 billion Ghanaian cedis out of a total of 184.9 billion cedis. It further stated that the banking and finance segment of the market spent next to telecommunications on ATL advertising, accounting for N6.176 billion, while in Ghana the next in line was corporate and multi-brand segment of the market, which spent 18.4 billion cedi. The lowest spending segment of the ATL advertising market in Nigeria is seasoning and herbs. According to the company, in both countries, television advertising raked in the highest revenue. “In Ghana 58 per cent of the total advertising spend went to television, while in Nigeria it clinched 42.2 per cent. Radio advertising attracted the second highest advert revenue in Ghana while out-of-home is next to television in the Nigerian ATL advertising market,” it stated. The report also disclosed that the fastest growing ATL advertising market in Nigeria is out-of-home advertising. This segment accounted in 2008 for N9.516 billion, taking about 17.1 per cent of the total spends of that year. Meanwhile in 2009, it raked in N24.25 billion or 26. 7 per cent of the total spend and came next to television in attracting revenue. One other highlight in the latest Mediafacts Addendum is the fact that print media got the bulk of its advert revenue in Nigeria from personal paid announcements, raking in N4.181 billion. Ghana’s print media on the other hand, still made the bulk of advertising money from telecommunications. Credit: Thisdayonline.net