Africa: Tobacco industry interference makes it difficult to implement anti-smoking measures

Although 43 of the 46 countries in the sub-Saharan African region have ratified the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), none has, to date, fully implemented all of the treaty's provisions. This situation is partly due to lobbying by the tobacco industry. Tobacco multinationals have been expanding in Africa in recent decades, exploiting the continent's socio-political climate.[1].

The African continent, a growth opportunity for the tobacco industry

Currently, the continent has the lowest smoking rates in the world: in 2020, approximately 10.3% of the population smoked according to the World Health Organization (WHO), while globally, the prevalence of smoking stood at 22.3%. However, the improvement of Africa's economy and the rapid growth of the youth population are leading to an increase in smoking.

Nowhere has the number of smokers increased as much since 1990 as in Africa – +104 % in North Africa and the Middle East and almost 75 % in sub-Saharan Africa. The continent had an estimated 66 million smokers in 2015, and by 2025, it is estimated that this number could reach 84 million. It is one of only two regions in the world, along with the Eastern Mediterranean region, where smoking is expected to increase over the next decade.

Adolescents are the tobacco industry’s prime target market, with all of its marketing efforts focused on them. A 2022 analysis by researchers at the University of Sierra Leone found that on average across 22 African countries, 19,133 adolescents aged 11 to 17 reported using tobacco products, with Zimbabwe having the highest rate at 47,133.

Effective measures that are slow to be implemented

African countries struggle to implement effective policies. Health warnings on cigarette packages, smoking bans in public places, and bans on tobacco advertising in points of sale have been adopted by only about a third of sub-Saharan African countries. This situation is often exacerbated by poor enforcement and lack of controls.

One of the most effective tools to reduce tobacco use is to repeatedly and sharply increase taxes on tobacco products. Tobacco companies consistently oppose these tax increases. In South Africa, for example, industry-backed groups successfully lobbied the government in 2020 to keep cigarette taxes unchanged at 40 %, given that the FCTC recommended rate is 75 %. The usual and erroneous arguments from these groups are that increasing taxes on tobacco products will reduce legal sales and increase illicit trade, which would have the net effect of reducing government revenues – and thus jeopardizing many jobs related to tobacco farming and manufacturing.

The tobacco industry's heavy interference in health policies

The tobacco industry remains the biggest obstacle to effective tobacco control policies. A recent study by the University of Bath in the UK uncovered corruption between the manufacturer British American Tobacco (BAT) and several African governments. The report claims that between 2008 and 2013, BAT made payments totalling €550,000 [2] to politicians in the form of cash, wire transfers, campaign donations and expensive gifts. Recipients included politicians and officials from Burundi, Comoros, Rwanda and Uganda, at a time when changes to tobacco control legislation were being considered in all four countries.

The tobacco industry is also funding policy think tanks in Africa, such as the IMANI Center for Policy & Education in Ghana, which has publicly opposed tobacco control and even the link between smoking and lung cancer. The industry is also increasingly influencing policymakers, using CSR (corporate social responsibility) programs such as providing scholarships to needy students, donating money to COVID19 victims, etc.

Countries that are doing well

Despite this industry lobby, some countries have adopted laws based on the FCTC recommendations. Recently, Sierra Leone, Côte d'Ivoire and Gabon announced a strengthening of tobacco control in their countries in collaboration with the WHO.

New report also praises Mauritius[3] for adopting all the anti-smoking measures recommended by the WHO. After adopting the first anti-smoking laws in 2003 and ratifying the FCTC, this country was the first in Africa to impose graphic health warnings on cigarette packets in 2008. Since May 2023, Mauritius has introduced plain packaging for cigarettes, banned e-cigarettes, heated tobacco and all new nicotine products, strengthened the ban on smoking in enclosed public places and extended it to certain open spaces, and trained its police to enforce these measures.

Keywords: Africa, tobacco control, lobby, interference, tobacco industry, sub-Saharan Africa

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