“The industry wants Africans to carry the cost of harm caused by alcohol while they take the profits”. As we celebrate Africa Day, Tungamirai Zimonte highlights a new form of exploitation of Africa by the global alcohol industry.
Africa Day provides an opportunity for us Africans at home and those in the diaspora to celebrate our identity, solidarity‚ friendship‚ ubuntu and destiny. As a people we have collectively undergone and overcame some of the worst injustices in human history such as the cross Atlantic slave trade and colonialism. Africa day is also a time to collectively reflect on the past, churn out new ideas on how to overcome the challenges of the present and practically work on building the dream of a healthy, peaceful and prosperous United Africa as propounded by the founding fathers of the African Union (formerly the Organisation of African Unity).
As we celebrate Africa Day and ponder on the future of our continent we should be aware of a new form of exploitation and annexation of African territory into markets by the global alcohol industry (particularly Diageo, SABMiller, Heineken, Carlsberg) that is a threat to African people’s health, wellbeing and development. Africa is being targeted by a ruthless and insensitive alcohol industry that is losing its grip in the developed world because they are aware of the harm that alcohol causes to health and to the social fabric of western society. In much of the western world the behaviour of the alcohol industry is increasingly being monitored by government and nongovernmental bodies but in Africa little of that is going on.
What is making Africa attractive to international alcohol industry is the fact that there are little or no restrictions on the behaviours of producers and marketers of alcohol because alcohol control policies are lacking or are not being enforced where they exist ‐ in the SADC region only Botswana has enforced its alcohol policy all the other countries in the region have drafts that are gathering dust. The alcohol industry has been relentless in its onslaught of Africa and has gone beyond just marketing their products to subversive direct involvement in national alcohol policy development (which is a prerogative for national governments) with potential for long‐lasting detrimental impact.
As documented in an influential paper by Bakke and Endal (2006), the alcohol industry has sought to take over the role of African governments in the design of alcohol policies in several African countries. They employ the services of the International Center for Alcohol Polices (ICAP) and international consultants, with the collaboration of often unsuspecting local organizations. Like the missionaries and their local collaborators during colonialism, it is self‐evident that the ICAP is advancing the international alcohol industry’s obnoxious gospel.
What the industry wants and continues to seek is to influence the policy process in Africa by foisting a one‐size‐fits‐all policy which promotes strategies not supported by scientific evidence but which protects the interests of the industry. The policies proposed by the industry agents (like the focus on education and responsible drinking) ignore the public health impact of alcohol and the process of designing them is a subversion of the rights of countries to direct their affairs in ways that are not detrimental to the welfare of its citizens.
Using a variety of strategies, producers of alcohol are targeting young African men and women with aspirational messages and other exhortations in an unprecedented onslaught of marketing and promotion which has been recognized as detrimental to public health and social welfare. Some of the activities have been highlighted in various reviews and studies (Obot, 2002; Jernigan & Obot, 2006; de Brujin, 2011) and tend to include sponsorship of events and programmes. These events are the ones that attract young people, for example fashion shows, beauty contests, sports events, music segments on radio, performances by foreign musical stars, and end‐of‐year or seasonal carnivals where alcohol is the centre of attraction.
Missing in the discussion on alcohol in most African countries is a clear understanding that alcohol marketing is not an ordinary economic activity and that the business of alcohol (an addictive substance with high potential for harm) can subvert the rights of individuals and the principles of democracy which many African societies are struggling to enthrone. Several studies from Africa have noted the increasing consumption of alcohol particularly by the youth (Parry et al, 1999; Odejide et al, 1987; Adelekan et al, 1993; Odek‐Ogunde et al, 1999). The authors noted that within the last three decades, adolescents and young adults who constitute the largest proportion of the population of African countries have become the target audience for alcohol marketing.
Amid the current high rates of HIV, road traffic deaths, teenage pregnancy, violence against women and sexual assault on the continent, all of which are linked with alcohol consumption, it is sad to note that some African governments are applying alcohol tax breaks. It does not require a rocket scientist to realise that the alcohol industry exists solely for the purpose of making money for its investors and is not really concerned about the cost of harm caused by alcohol on the African continent and its people.
The fact that alcohol now accounts for a higher proportion of deaths worldwide than HIV, AIDS, violence and tuberculosis combined according to the World Health Organization (WHO) “Global
Status Report on Alcohol” should really have African leaders and policy makers thinking hard about what it means for the future of the continent. The report further states that in countries with lower economic wealth the morbidity and mortality risks are higher per litre of pure alcohol consumed than in the higher income countries, this is worrying considering that most African countries fall in the low economic wealth bracket.
This changing alcohol environment in Africa suggests need for preventive alcohol control policies since most African countries do not have free healthcare, social welfare systems or full employment that would enable them to cope with associated harms related to alcohol. It is therefore imperative that African governments’ commitment to alcohol policy development should be followed by action in addressing the harm that alcohol causes on the continent by adopting evidence based alcohol policies free from vested commercial interests as those being promoted by the ICAP.
The harmful use of alcohol is a factor that has to be addressed urgently to ensure sustained social and economic development of the African continent. It is heartening to note that in Southern Africa and East Africa civil society organisations have collectively come together under the auspices of the
Southern African Alcohol Policy Alliance (SAAPA) and the East African Alcohol Policy Alliance (EAAPA) respectively with the aim to address the challenges of harmonising and accelerating alcohol policy in their regions. As we celebrate Africa day for those of us working to reduce the harms associated with alcohol is a time we call upon African leaders and policy makers to intensify their efforts in accelerating evidence based alcohol policy development on the continent.
Though alcohol serves as a dependable source of tax revenue for governments in Africa, the truth is that alcohol is not an ordinary commodity like bread or pizza and the alcohol industry is a vector for health and social problems in Africa it is our hope that alcohol policy becomes part and parcel of the African development agenda and should be made a talking point at regional fora like SADC, EAC, ECOWAS and the African Union, with a view of forming a common alcohol policy for the whole of Africa.
The alcohol industry exists to propagate consumption of an addictive substance through unfair ways and means that subvert the rights of young people and vulnerable groups. The industry wants
Africans to carry the cost of harm caused by alcohol while they take the profits, if we let the alcohol industry have its way, our future will not be there tomorrow.