The holy month of Ramadan is, for Muslims, a time of peace and prayer when Muslims reflect on and deepen their spirituality and relationship with Allah. It is a time of community, fasting, and selflessness, when Muslims deprive themselves of food and drink between dawn and dusk, and forego using tobacco products and engaging in sexual relations. Muslims are expected to increase charity work or money given to the poor during this time. Islam follows the Gregorian calendar and Ramadan is the ninth month, so the timing of this holy month changes annually, ending with Eid al-Fitr, a celebration of the return to normal, daily life. In countries like Niger, where 95% of the population are practicing Muslims, Ramadan consumes the entire country and daily practices are adjusted to accommodate this important time of the year. For example, prayer time is extended, especially the mid-day prayer, work expectations are lowered as people fast throughout the day, and expressions of solidarity and support are issued in person or through texts generated by cell phone companies, television advertisements, and highway billboards.
For the duration of the 2016-2017 school year, I lived in the capital city of Niamey, Niger as a Fulbright Scholar, teaching at the national university and conducting research on water vending, and other cultural topics (see Youngstedt et al. 2016; Keough and Youngstedt 2018, and Keough and Youngstedt 2019 for examples). That year, Ramadan fell from May 26 - June 24, 2017, and although I am not a Muslim, I had the opportunity to observe first hand the way this holy month is practiced in Niger. During Ramadan, the landscape of daily life in Niamey changes. The city slows down as its residents spend more time reading the Qu’ran and engage in long periods of prayer and reflection. One noticeable change in the landscape is the appearance of billboards along highways and busy streets with Ramadan greetings and, depending on the company advertising, special discounts or products available specifically for the holy month.
This article examines the billboard advertising landscape of Niamey during Ramadan 2017. These billboard advertisements began to appear about two weeks prior to the start of Ramadan and were displayed throughout the entire month. The advertisements covered a range of consumer products, such as food, clothing, cell phones and money transfers. What really struck me about these signs, however, was that in most cases the advertisements encouraged increased consumption of a particular product, which I found to be in contrast to the overall religious practices during Ramadan that emphasize reduction (of food, drink, and other things)1.
The written word in the landscape can tell us important things about local cultures (Lewis 1979). Written words in urban landscapes often occur in the form of signs, like providing driving directions, warnings to pedestrians or drivers, and advertising products and services. The scientific study of signs and their meaning is called semiology. Signs are worthy of scientific study because the meanings they communicate can indicate tastes and preferences of local cultures and they can reflect forces acting on the cultural landscape of a place (Berger 2009). Furthermore, signs give us information that we may not find in books written about the same place or event. If examined within their physical and cultural context, the study of signs can provide a more complete answer to questions about a place and the people that live there. In this article, I apply semiotic techniques to Ramadan signs to better understand the relationship between piety and consumption in Niamey, Niger.
Niger is a landlocked country of approximately 20 million people in the Sahel and Saharan regions of West Africa. Like many West African countries, it was colonized by France and gained independence in 1960. After thirty years of dictatorship, Niger became a democracy in 1991, a condition that exists today. Several legacies of the colonial period remain in Niger. For example, the national language is French, though indigenous languages like Hausa and Zarma are more commonly spoken. The education system roughly follows the French model. Although some place names have been changed, many reflect Niger’s colonial heritage.
Unfortunately, Niger has consistently fallen at or close to the bottom of the United Nations Human Development Index. Literacy rates are low, especially for women. Fertility rates are high (7.5 children per woman, the highest in the world) because infant mortality rates are also high and children are a source of labor, income, and social security for aging adults. The country is rich in natural resources like uranium, but it is exploited by foreign powers who control much of the industry, especially after the imposition of structural adjustment programs that forced the government to sell mining and utility companies (like the water utility company) in order to qualify for economic development loans from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Niger’s national debt consumes much of the small income the country has, and government corruption impedes the expansion of many projects that would benefit the larger population. Still, Niger survives and shares a rich cultural heritage with the rest of the world. Music from performers like Bombino, food traditions like meat preparation, and leather products are just a few examples of Nigérien culture that extend beyond its political boundaries.
The presence of Islam in Africa dates back to approximately A.D. 640 when Muslims conquered Egypt and began to expand across northern Africa (Moyo 2007; Nyang 2013). Conversion to Islam was gradual, as Arabs conquered lands, then settled and intermarried with Berbers, who, over time, became increasingly Islamicized. Islam spread to regions south of the Sahara through peaceful means largely by missionary merchants trading manufactured goods from North Africa for raw materials. The introduction of the camel facilitated trans-Saharan crossings as well. Some Muslim merchants traveling through Sudan traveled west into West Africa, establishing Islamic centers in capital cities.
Islam was initially the religious practice of elites in West Africa, but it spread quickly to other classes because it was tolerant of (and in some cases resembled) traditional religious practices. Elements of Islam that were compatible with indigenous beliefs were quickly incorporated, while others, such as shari’a (Muslim law) and veiling women, were ignored because they were less compatible with local practices. Beginning in the eighteenth century, however, Islam diffused through both militant groups and the Sufi brotherhoods (mystical religious orders) who were able to convert large groups and exert influence in politics and economics, in addition to religious practices. Islam was expanding in Niger before, during, and after colonialism, and France made no effort to suppress Islam in Niger during the colonial period, nor did they make an effort to push Christianity (Moyo 2007; Nyang 2013).
After Independence, Islam adapted and accommodated non-Muslim practices in some areas of West Africa, while in others, non-Muslims were viewed as enemies. Today, in an effort to seek religious solutions to social, political, and economic problems, some groups have turned to Islamist movements, such as Salafi movements like Izala that entered Niger from Saudia Arabia and Nigeria. These movements have become divisive in West Africa. Furthermore, extremist and terrorist groups, such Boko Haram in Northeastern Nigeria and eastern Niger, have committed horrific acts of violence against both Muslims and non-Muslims in those regions. Most Muslims are horrified at what radicals have done, and they prefer more peaceful and tolerant means of co-existence with various Muslim and non-Muslim groups (“Faithful” 2003).
My experience in Niger over the last 12 years aligns with this description. I spend most of my time in the capital, Niamey. Although Islamist groups like Izala in Niamey and surrounding communities have increased in number and following, and some more conservative practices have been adopted, such as longer veils for women and young girls wearing them at younger ages, Muslims in Niamey remain very tolerant and dedicated to peaceful co-existence. Muslims with whom I speak express deep concern and extreme disappointment over the terrorist actions of the extremist groups like Boko Haram. It is through my interactions with Nigérien Muslims that I have come to understand this peaceful and tolerant side of Islam that is largely under-reported on in media sources.
The month of Ramadan is observed to mark the time when God, or Allah (“Allah” is the Arabic word for “God”), gave the first chapters of the Qur’an to Mohammad. It is the ninth month of the Gregorian calendar and begins at the new moon sighting. Ramadan ends when the new moon is sighted again, with a celebration called Eid al-Fitr. During Ramadan, Muslims refrain from food and beverages between dawn and dusk, and go without using tobacco products, engaging in sexual relations, and becoming involved in other “sinful behavior.” The iftar, or daily breaking of the fast, begins before the last of the day’s five prayers with the consumption of sugar cubes, dates, and juice or water. After the last daily prayer, a large meal is consumed. Ramadan is a time when Muslims are expected to increase charity work and giving money to the poor. This holy month is an opportunity for Muslims to grow closer to Allah. As Dalia Mogahed, former Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, describes it, “the Ramadan fast is about taking away what desensitizes and distracts our hearts so we can access spiritual realities hidden to us by easy fixes and immediate gratification” (Mogahed 2017).
One of the reasons I wanted to spend an entire year in Niger was so that I could observe, and to the extent allowed participate in, Muslim traditions. Passing the month of Ramadan in Niger was one of the experiences that has deepened my understanding of Islam as it is practiced in Niger. As a scholar of material culture and cultural landscapes, highway billboards that appeared in the weeks leading up to and during Ramadan caught my attention, as they represented the commercial and cultural practices of some Nigérien Muslims.
The highway billboards in Niamey related to Ramadan became the data I used in my analysis. During the month of Ramadan in 2017, I drove all the highways and streets in Niamey that contained billboard advertisements and photographed every billboard that advertised something related to Ramadan. Sometimes, the relationship was obvious because the sign used the word “Ramadan.” In other cases, understanding cultural practices in Niger associated with Ramadan helped identify signs that were less obvious in their meaning. I photographed every sign, even if the same advertisement appeared in multiple locations. Most of my driving for this project occurred during the mid-day prayer because this prayer lasts longer during Ramadan, sometimes 30-40 minutes, and the normally crowded and congested streets were refreshingly vacant of cars, busses, trucks, and pedestrians, making my frequent stops to take photographs much easier. I photographed a total of 38 signs and 19 different designs representing 10 different companies.
After photographing the signs, I analyzed them for symbolic and linguistic meaning. Then, I divided them into categories by consumer good (cell phones, money, food, clothing), considered how language and language combinations were used on the sign, and how people were depicted, the clothing they wore, and the activities in which they were engaged. I also considered what was missing in these advertising landscapes. Results of this analysis highlight patterns in global corporate advertising, reflect literacy trends in Niger, and speak to the growing wealth gap in developing countries.
Initially, I grouped the 38 signs into several categories: product or service advertised, food/drink type, language/s used, Islamic symbols used, and depictions of people. The products or services advertised (Figure 1) were identified by type: cell phones, money transfer agencies, food/drink, clothing, and other. Calling or texting friends and family is expected practice during Ramadan, especially as rural to urban migration rates increase and families become more geographically spread out, so the presence of advertisements from cell phone companies like Orange (pronounced “O-ronj,” the French pronunciation of the color) is not surprising. Money transfers to family and friends is a common practice during Ramadan and today is facilitated by cell phones and the proliferation of money transfer agencies in Niamey, Western Union being the one with the most longevity. The daily ritual of breaking the fast (iftar) involves specific foods and beverages, so the fact that this category was the largest is also not surprising. Finally, many families arrange for new outfits to be made by local tailors, often of the same cloth that they purchase at local markets or boutiques, as the end of Ramadan approaches. Thus, I anticipated that clothing advertisements would also be among the billboards displayed.
The largest category of product advertised was food and drink, with 14 signs total, so I broke that category down into food/drink types: tea, figs, sugar, juice, energy drinks, and food buffets (Figure 2). Tea, figs, and juice are common foods consumed during iftar (Figure 3), so it was not surprising to see these food products appear in roadside advertisements. Surprising, however, was the absence of sugar as a product advertised or present in the signs. This could be explained by the fact that the ads target a wealthy audience, and sugar is the iftar meal of the poorer population. Many signs that advertised foods and drinks depicted an evening setting, which makes sense given that this is the time of day when most of the food consumed during Ramadan occurs.
I also considered how language was used in Ramadan signs (Figure 4). All signs were in French, the national language of Niger, but I was surprised by the lack of local languages used in these advertisements. Only the Malta advertisements used local languages (Hausa and Zarma), and they were also the only signs to use Arabic (Figure 5). Most roadside billboards, though, target the wealthy population with disposable income, and this group is more likely to speak French, as this is also the population that has the highest rate of educational attainment. There is little incentive to incorporate other languages.
Common symbols in the signs align with Ramadan as well (Figure 6). A crescent moon with a star, the symbol of Islam and Muslim communities, was present in two-thirds of the signs, and in 16 cases was depicted with a mosque as well. The placement of the moon with relationship to the star varied, however. Sometimes the star was inside the crescent, other times it was outside or beside the crescent. On the Malta signs, the outline of a city skyline was depicted inside the crescent (Figure 5). The prominence of the crescent varied as well. On some signs, it was small and in the upper corner, but on others, like the Western Union Advertisement, it was large and a significant part of the symbolic nature of the ad (Figure 7).
Finally, I considered how people were displayed in the ads (Figure 8). The only company to use a woman alone (without a man) in the ad was Byaddo, the cloth brand. Some Byaddo signs also used a man and woman together (Figure 9). Some ads used drawings or cartoons of people, like Orange, while others used real people, like the XXL energy drink. Children were only used in family settings (Figure 10). The only ad in which the person was wearing western style clothing was the XXL energy drink ad (Figure 11). Several ads had no people at all (Lipton, Western Union, Fuizy, El Ehteraf, and Malta).
In general, however, the depictions of people in the ads did not reflect the realities of gender and family relations in Niamey. For example, in the Orange ad (Figure 10), the family is breaking the fast together, but in Niger, with a few exceptions in elite families, most men and women eat separately from each other and children eat separately from adults. The mother and daughter’s head scarves are not the traditional way many Nigérien women wrap their heads, nor does it display the most common type of hijab (or veil) that Nigérien women wear2. Finally, the skin color of the mother is significantly lighter than the rest of her family. The Byaddo ad also depicts gender roles. In one ad, the man and woman are standing together, side by side, with bodies facing away from each other. This is a very egalitarian pose that stands out in a country with fairly strict gender roles. The other ad with both a man and a woman shows the woman sitting, looking up at the man, who is, in turn, looking down at her (Figure 9). This portrayal is more inline with gender relations and roles in Niger.
Taken together, these signs reveal some interesting themes and trends. The most obvious one is the homogenization of corporate advertising. The Orange ads are good examples of this. Orange is a French telecommunications company that operates across Francophone West Africa. Like the currency that is common to all francophone countries in West Africa, cell phone services and compatibility extends across borders as well. Cultural norms and practices associated with Islam vary across the region, and even within countries, yet Orange created signs that were likely used across West Africa. This partly explains why the ones along Niamey highways do not depict Nigérien cultural practices, such as different parts of the family eating separately.
Another example is the XXL Energy drink (Figure 11), a German company whose beverages are distributed by Abi Ramia Bros. This image shows a young man lifting an off-road vehicle with one hand, presumably after consuming a bottle of XXL Energy. The irony here is that those fasting during Ramadan are in most need of an energy drink in the afternoon or early evening when the effects of fasting all day are felt the strongest, but fasting includes refraining from drinking as well as eating. However, it is also possible that the goal of this advertisement was simply to associate a product with an idea (in this case, an important Muslim festival).
In addition to considering the signs and symbols that are present in the advertising landscape, it is also important to consider what we do not see. I was surprised that Orange was the only cell phone company with Ramadan signs. There were at least three other cell phone companies operating in Niger: Moov (a Moroccan company), Airtel (and Indian company), and Sahelcom (a Nigérien company). All of these have roadside billboards, but none created new ones during Ramadan advertising special rates and bonus minutes days. The absence of more money transfer companies was also striking, especially the lack of Al Izza signs, a money transfer company that was growing exponentially in Niger at the time and had expanded into other services as well, such as long distance luxury bus transportation.
The absence of languages other than French on the billboards is striking, though not unexpected. The prominence of the French language in billboard advertising extends across all advertisements and times of year. Expecting this trend to change just during Ramadan would be unjustified, but in previous years I noticed Ramadan signs including more local languages. For example, in 2015, I was in Niger shortly after the end of Ramadan and noticed that the satellite television company Canal+ used local languages in some of its highway billboards.
Finally, the absence of government-sponsored Ramadan greetings and wishes among highway billboards was striking. During previous trips to Niger that occurred before or after Ramadan, government messages to Nigériens wishing them peace during the holy month were plentiful, almost as common as corporate advertising, though I did not do a formal survey on these previous trips. In 2017, however, no government Ramadan signs were present in the entire city. The government has certainly not become more secular in practice, despite its official secular status, so I inquired among my Nigérien friends why the government signs might be missing. Several suggested that the mayoral election, which took place 2 weeks before Ramadan that year, was the cause. Apparently, the incumbent mayor lost the election, and perhaps had not invested in Ramadan signs because he knew a loss was likely. The new mayor did not have time to order signs before or during Ramadan. This scenario explains the lack of local government signs, but not the lack of national government signs. Niamey is, after all, the political and economic capital of Niger.
What was probably most striking about the Ramadan signs I observed, however, was the fact that most were encouraging increased consumption of a product during a time when Muslims intentionally decrease consumption of many things. In other words, the goal of corporate profit growth was couched within the rationale that buying more cell phone minutes or data, sending more money to family and friends, or eating large buffets at a local restaurant were disguised as acceptable Ramadan practices because they could be done to benefit others (such as the recipients of the money being sent through Western Union). This contrast between the acts of piety that are expected of Muslims during Ramadan (and other times of year) and the consumption or over-consumption encouraged by highway billboards creates a landscape of mixed messages. Yet the physical presence of billboards themselves is not controversial, at least from my conversations with Nigériens and perusal of the local newspapers. It is also important to note that almost all of the billboards were produced by non-Nigérien companies and probably by non-Muslims.
In conclusion, considering the written word in the landscape can reveal important things about local cultures and global trends. Signs and symbols can provide additional context for conditions and events that create a more holistic understanding of the situation. Yet, these signs and symbols must be considered within the cultural context in which they occur. In other words, the signs themselves can be clues to local cultures, but understanding local cultural trends can also help us interpret and understand the signs we are seeing. Ramadan signs on the streets of Niamey are just one example.
I would like to thank the Fulbright Foundation for the year-long fellowship that allowed me to complete this research. I would also like to thank Dr. Scott Youngstedt for reading an early draft and the reviewers for their helpful comments.