Kenya: Internet to circumvent anti-smoking legislation and promote new products

To ensure the growth of its business, the tobacco industry is targeting young people in Kenya with new products, while also using the internet.

In Kenya[1], the law prohibits the sale of tobacco products to minors and on the Internet. However, a simple search reveals different sites offering this sale in Kenya, some of these sites do not ensure any control of the age of the consumer; are on sale, alongside traditional cigarettes, disposable electronic cigarettes at attractive prices (from €1), and especially "pouches" of tobacco-free nicotine (Lyft brand of British American Tobacco - BAT) which are placed between the cheek and the gum in the same way as snus (Swedish oral tobacco).

These sites do not carry any health warnings about the harms of tobacco/nicotine products, as required by the country's law, and delivery is provided in less than 50 minutes to Nairobi, the capital.

Lyft nicotine pouches, BAT's new weapon in Kenya

These Lyft pouches, developed as a low-risk product, are offered in several flavors at prices ranging from 55 shillings for 5 pouches to 280 shillings for 20 (i.e. €0.40 and €2.20). BAT insists that this “Discreet product…can be used anytime and anywhere. That’s what makes it very convenient ".

Alongside the tobacco industry's usual promotional messages for its products, BAT emphasises the stimulant nature of nicotine by stating on the product, " The Pouch to LYFT your everyday. Welcome to a new world of stimulation. Anytime, Anywhere. Are you in? ». Let us recall that English is one of the official languages of Kenya.

Lyft's popularity has grown rapidly since it launched in Kenya in 2019. And as early as February 2020, BAT announced plans to build a factory there to produce Lyft wallets for the African market.

According to Joel Gitali, chairman of the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance (KETCA), by introducing these new products into the market, the tobacco industry is seeking to attract young people, who, once they are addicted to nicotine, will have no other option but to opt for traditional cigarettes which remain cheaper than the pouches.