Up to 60% of Accra billboards illegal, advertisers blame assemblies
The Advertising Association of Ghana says it mapped more than 10,000 structures and compared them with national standards. It has not released the audit, and no assembly has yet responded.
The industry body for Ghana’s advertisers says it has counted more than 10,000 billboards in the capital and judged that between 40 and 60 per cent break the rules. The assessment, unpublished so far, points the finger at the local assemblies that issue the permits.
Association president Andrew Ackah told the Citi Breakfast Show on Wednesday that the group funded the exercise itself. It mapped each structure and set the database against the law and the guiding technical standard. Some billboards, he said, breach traffic and building rules, and others raise concerns about structural integrity and materials. He argued that the assemblies (MMDAs) issue permits without enforcing the Ghana Standards Authority’s guidelines, and said the problem will persist unless they tighten monitoring.
The standard, GS 847:2019, was developed with road, planning and engineering bodies. It requires structures to comply with the Ghana Building Code, resist wind and seismic loads, and carry certified drawings approved by the assembly’s works department. It sets spacing by speed limit and bans medians and pedestrian walkways. Mr Ackah has cited a 2024 audit that found more than 300 billboards on a 13-kilometre stretch from Accra Mall to Sakumono Junction, against a limit of about 100.
The association has made similar claims before. In 2025 it said over 60 per cent of billboards were illegally erected, and an audit in Adentan found more than 1,500 undocumented structures. A government committee chaired by Deputy Local Government Minister Rita Naa Odoley Sowah began demolishing unauthorised billboards in December. The association backed the clean-up but asked for a published phased plan and structured engagement with the industry.
Source: CNR
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