Supply vulnerabilities drive illicit tobacco trade – TCDI

NKOMBO KACHEMBA

Lusaka

DATA obtained from the Tobacco Control Data Initiative (TCDI) dashboard indicates that the prevalence of illicit cigarettes in Zambia stands at 12.2 percent, lower than rates recorded in South Africa, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Ghana.

The TCDI data puts illicit cigarette prevalence at 58 percent in South Africa, 45.4 percent in Ethiopia, 25 percent in Nigeria and 20 percent in Ghana.

However, Zambia’s rate is higher than those recorded in Senegal at nine percent, Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo at 8.6 percent each, and Kenya at five percent.

The findings are based on the TCDI’s 2022 illicit cigarette empty-pack survey, which analysed 118,344 cigarette packs collected from retailers, streets and bins across 25 districts covering all 10 provinces.

The survey found that 14,428 packs, representing 12.2 percent of the sample, were classified as illicit based on criteria including the absence of a Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) tax stamp, required health warnings or the presence of an unauthorised duty free stamp.

The data further shows a significant difference between locally manufactured and imported cigarettes, with 3.2 percent of locally manufactured cigarettes classified as illicit compared with 61.7 percent of imported cigarettes.

According to the TCDI analysis, illicit tobacco trade is linked more to weaknesses in enforcement and vulnerabilities in supply chains than to high tax rates.

The trends were highlighted during a two-day online training workshop for journalists from South Africa, Zambia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Nigeria on evidence informed reporting using the TCDI dashboard.

The dashboard, developed by the Centre for the Study of the Economies of Africa (CSEA) and Development Gateway, provides country-level data on tobacco use, health impacts, economic trends, illicit trade and industry activities to support investigative and data driven journalism.

Phillip Jakpor, of CSEA, urged journalists to make greater use of available tobacco-control data to investigate changing strategies in the tobacco industry and their implications for public health and policy.

Mr Jakpor said tobacco companies are increasingly moving beyond conventional advertising to approaches aimed at gaining legitimacy in public health, environmental and policy spaces.

“The face of tobacco has changed. The cigarette is no longer the only face of the industry. We now have flavoured cigarettes, electronic cigarettes, vapes, heated tobacco products, synthetic nicotine and shisha targeted at young impressionable people,” Mr Jakpor said.

He said products with flavours such as orange, pineapple and banana could appeal to young people and encourage experimentation with tobacco and nicotine products. https://enews.daily-mail.co.zm/welcome/home