Africa’s billboard advertising industry is undergoing a transformation, as adtech platforms seeks to bring data, automation and accountability to a space long defined by guesswork. At the centre of that shift is Candle, a digital infrastructure platform developed by Alpha & Jam Africa.
Candle aims to modernise how brands buy, measure and optimise out-of-home advertising across the continent.
Founded by Samuel Ajiboye, the platform is positioning itself as a bridge between traditional billboard networks and the precision targeting commonly associated with online advertising, offering advertisers real-time insights into who sees their campaigns and how they perform.
“Scheduling for Candle is cloud-based. You can upload your campaign online and see it go live. It is a self-service platform that is as easy to run as a Facebook ad. Once you can run a Facebook ad, you can run an ad on the Madison or any board powered by Candle,” Ajiboye explained.
His ambition is clear and unapologetically bold: to build the Google Ads equivalent for Africa’s out-of-home advertising market.
What you need to know
By aggregating content, managing digital screens and collecting campaign data in real time, the platform offers advertisers a level of visibility that has historically been absent.
Rather than simply confirming that a campaign was displayed, Candle tracks performance before, during and after deployment. Advertisers can monitor visibility across specific locations, commuting routes and traffic patterns, bringing greater transparency and accountability to outdoor campaigns.
One of the most persistent challenges in Africa’s OOH industry is the lack of a centralised system linking screens, advertisers and data. Candle positions itself as that missing infrastructure layer.
Through its platform, content can be deployed simultaneously across multiple digital billboards, while campaign data is collected and analysed in parallel. This enables advertisers to manage campaigns from a single interface, eliminating the need to negotiate separately with multiple media owners.
For media owners, the system offers connectivity without compromising control. Billboard operators can integrate their screens into a broader advertising network while retaining ownership and operational authority.
Measuring audiences with data and CEGR analytics
At the core of Candle’s offering is a data engine designed to measure real-world visibility.
One of its proprietary tools, CEGR (Car Economic Grading Ratio), estimates the socio-economic profile of audiences exposed to billboard campaigns. By analysing vehicle types, traffic composition and movement patterns, the system provides insights into the likely income segments of people passing through specific routes.
This represents a significant shift from traditional methods, where demographic insights often required costly and infrequent market research.
By contrast, Candle’s model offers a scalable, data-driven approach to understanding audience characteristics, enabling advertisers to plan campaigns with greater precision.
Tackling inefficiency with real-time optimisation
Inefficiency has long been a defining feature of billboard advertising. Brands typically purchase placements for fixed periods with limited visibility into whether their target audience actually encounters the campaign. Candle addresses this through real-time analytics.
Using pre-campaign, in-campaign and post-campaign data, advertisers can evaluate performance across different locations. Underperforming routes can be adjusted, budgets can be reallocated, and campaigns can be aligned with peak traffic periods.
“Candle is free, not for sale. It’s just like Uber, it never asks the driver to pay money before they download the Uber app. It helps you make more money. Just like Uber, Candle does not control your screen,” Ajiboye said.
This model ensures that while Candle provides the technological backbone, media owners remain firmly in control of their assets.
AI and the rise of programmatic outdoor advertising
Artificial intelligence is expected to play a central role in Candle’s next phase of growth.
Ajiboye said AI is already reshaping how advertising content is produced, allowing brands to generate creative assets for multiple scenarios at a fraction of traditional costs.
The company is currently developing two AI-driven systems to expand its capabilities.
GenieLabs will enable automated content creation based on brand guidelines and regulatory requirements, while ARGO, an AI-powered advertising agent, will streamline media planning and buying.
Advertisers will be able to define target audiences and allow the system to deploy campaigns automatically across connected screens.
For Ajiboye, Candle represents more than a technological upgrade. It signals a broader shift towards connected advertising infrastructure, where physical media operates with the same intelligence and measurability as digital platforms.
Talking Points
It is notable that Candle is tackling one of the most persistent weaknesses in Africa’s out-of-home advertising industry, the lack of transparency and measurable performance. By introducing real-time data and campaign visibility, the platform shifts billboard advertising from assumption-driven to insight-led.
The emphasis on a unified infrastructure is particularly significant. By connecting media owners, advertisers and campaign data within a single system, Candle addresses the fragmentation that has long limited scale and efficiency in the sector.
At Techparley, we see strong potential in Candle’s ability to bring digital precision to physical advertising. The comparison to online ad platforms is not just conceptual, it reflects a broader shift towards making offline media as accountable and optimisable as digital channels.
The introduction of CEGR analytics also stands out as a practical innovation. While not a perfect substitute for direct audience measurement, it offers a scalable way to approximate socio-economic targeting, which has traditionally been difficult and expensive in outdoor advertising.
As Candle expands, there is a clear opportunity to deepen its impact through strategic partnerships with agencies, telecom operators and urban infrastructure providers. This could accelerate network growth and improve data quality across markets.
——————-
Bookmark Techparley.com for the most insightful technology news from the African continent.
Follow us on Twitter @Techparleynews, on Facebook at Techparley Africa, on LinkedIn at Techparley Africa, or on Instagram at Techparleynews.
