Advertising’s role in an informal economy

A significant portion of Ghana’s economy is informal, or off the grid. On the ground, this translates into kiosks and stands selling everything from phone minutes to bananas to water to rice.

Many of these stands seem to be completely independent, without any affiliation to larger companies or corporations. But, this isn’t really the case with all of them.

The cell phone providers are probably the most connected to the small stands. The stands sell minutes and sim cards, and sometimes phones, too. The minutes are a necessary part of the cell phone system here, since almost everything is pay as you go. All the stands translate into there being minutes available not far off.

I haven’t figured out exactly what the process of setting up these stands is, but it intrigues me. The stands, advertised with painted or sticker signs, can be found in far-flung villages. So someone is making sure the advertising, like the Vodaphone signs found on the shed above, which is about 3 hours outside of Accra, is getting around.

I’m not sure if the signs are spray-painted on with a stencil, but the advertising ends up everywhere. MTN, another cellphone provider, usually has more uniform advertising, but then again, MTN sponsors everything. (For an idea of how much MTN sponsors, consider: It sponsored not one, but both teams in the President’s Cup soccer match, and also the stadium.)

Other forms of interesting advertising include plastic signs on a swivel, which spin in the wind, alternately displaying a logo and some information or a catchphrase. Zain, yet another cellphone provider, utilizes these quite a bit.

I hope to have some more pictures and more concrete info on advertising, including more on the informal economy, soon.