…Calls for SSB tax increase from ₦10 to at least ₦130 per litre
By Progress Godfrey
Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, has warned that Nigeria could be sitting on a health ticking time bomb if nothing is done to ensure effective tax on Sugar-Sweetened Beverages (SSBs), commonly known as soft drinks.
Mr Akinbode Oluwafemi, Executive Director of CAPPA, made this statement at a media roundtable in Abuja on Tuesday, noting that unhealthy diets, particularly these soft drinks put Nigeria in the throes of public health crisis – “slowly turning our streets into graveyards and our hospitals into crowded waiting rooms.”
According to him, scientific and medical evidence reveal that SSBs are directly fueling the explosive rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including “the slump and die” trend Nigeria currently witnesses across the country.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) puts the number of deaths caused by NCDs at 1 in 3 deaths in Nigeria.
Citing a recent investigation by a national daily, which revealed that Nigerians spend an estimated ₦1.92 trillion ($1.26 billion) annually on healthcare related to these preventable conditions, Oluwafemi said the crisis has grown beyond mere health concerns – now a full-blown social and economic catastrophe. He stressed that inaction would only cost Nigerians more.
Current N10/Litre Tax An Illusion
In 2021, the Nigerian government introduced the SSB tax, imposing a token of ₦10 per litre Excise Duty on all non-alcoholic, sweetened, and carbonated drinks. The policy was considered a pro-health measure to discourage overconsumption of SSBs, reduce public addiction to sugary drinks, and stem the rising tide of NCDs.
According to CAPPA, the ₦10/litre tax was and is still inadequate considering that at the time, a 33cl bottle of SSB cost about ₦150. “Since three bottles make up one litre, the tax per bottle was about ₦3.33, a negligible 2 per cent price bump, far too weak to deter consumption.
“Today, with bottles priced above ₦300, this tax now amounts to barely 1 percent of the price, failing to shift market behaviour or improve public health outcomes,” he said.
The Executive Director emphasised that evidence from global health research is unequivocal: “to achieve public health objectives, health taxes must raise retail prices by at least 20–50 percent. Nigeria’s ₦10/litre levy is insufficient to influence consumer behaviour meaningfully; it does not even graze the surface of the problem. It cannot work effectively unless it is revised upward,” Oluwafemi added.
To this end, CAPPA and its healthy food crusaders demanded as follows – that the government:
“Increase the SSB tax so that it raises the final retail price of sugary drinks by 20 or 30 percent — or ideally 50 percent, in line with WHO recommendations. Specifically, we are calling on the Nigerian government to increase the SSB tax from ₦10 per litre to at least ₦130 per litre. This will reduce consumption and push manufacturers to reformulate their products.
“Earmark revenue for healthcare, NCD prevention, nutrition education, basic health services in underserved communities, and school feeding programmes,” Oluwafemi said.
CAPPA further urged government to mandate transparent front-of-pack labelling on all food and beverage products so Nigerians know what they consume, as well as require annual public reporting by the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigeria Customs Service, and the Ministries of Finance and Health to ensure accountability.
The CSOs also called on government to establish a strong firewall against industry interference. “Policies must serve the people, not corporate profits.
Invest resources in food security and agroecology. By supporting the cultivation of real and nutritious food, we can strengthen local food systems, improve public health, and reduce the dangerous dependence of Nigerians on ultra-processed products.”
Reinforcing Nigeria’s need for healthy diets, Professor Olubunmi Lanre Olaitan, a professor of Public Health Promotion and Nutrition Education at the University of Ilorin, encouraged Nigerians to stick to healthy alternatives, as sugary drinks and junk foods spike the blood sugar, which over time could lead to NCDs.
Also speaking, Joy Amafah-Isaac, the In-Country Coordinator of Food Policy Program at Global Health Advocacy Incubator, GHAI, revealed that industries engaged in deceptive marketing, prioritising profit over public health.
Some of their tactics, according to her, were that the industry giants sponsored adverts, proposed weaker taxes, and delegitimised evidence to distort perception about Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, among others.
