The advocacy for an effective Sugar Sweetened Beverage (SSB) tax in Nigeria is gaining more momentum following a media roundtable organised by the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) in Abuja on July 8, 2025.
Featuring over 70 physical and virtual participants, including medical, economic and nutrition professionals and over 40 health journalists from leading Nigerian media houses, the experts rebutted the sugary drinks’ industry’s misinformation about the policy. They reiterated the call for an increased SSB tax rate, to raise the final retail price of sugary drinks by 20 or 30 percent, or ideally 50 percent, in line with World Health Organisation (WHO) recommendations.
This, they affirmed, was a foundational step to curbing chronic diseases and generating critical public revenue.
The roundtable followed sponsored attacks on the tax and public health advocates by the sugary drinks industry, and in the wake of a global initiative launched by the WHO on July 2, urging countries to raise prices on tobacco, alcohol, and sugary drinks by at least 50 percent over the next 10 years through health taxes to curb chronic diseases and generate critical public revenue.
In his remarks, CAPPA Executive Director Akinbode Oluwafemi called on the Nigerian government to raise the current SSB tax from its minimal rate of ₦10 per litre to at least ₦130 per litre. He emphasised that such an increase was necessary to save lives and to mobilise domestic revenue for health investments. According to him, Nigeria is losing more than ₦200 billion in potential annual revenue by maintaining a weak tax regime on products that contribute directly to non-communicable diseases.
Oluwafemi further explained that this revenue could be channelled into essential public health programmes, including the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund, the National Health Insurance Authority, and school feeding initiatives. He described the proposed SSB tax as a low-cost, high-impact measure that could address multiple crises at once, from rising obesity and diabetes rates to the underfunding of healthcare in low-income communities. In his words, Nigeria must now make a decisive choice between public health and corporate profit, between the future of its people and the comfort of the status quo.
As part of its advocacy, CAPPA presented six key demands to the Nigerian government. These include the need to increase the SSB tax to a level that discourages consumption and compels companies to reformulate their products.
CAPPA also called for a clear framework to earmark the generated revenue for healthcare, nutrition education, and food security in underserved areas.
Other demands include mandatory front-of-pack labelling for processed foods and beverages, regular public reporting by relevant agencies to promote transparency, legal safeguards against industry interference in policy processes, and investment in agroecological farming to promote access to real, nutritious food.
Rebutting Industry Attacks
The CAPPA ED also addressed the barrage of false claims and half-truths from industry actors and their mouthpieces, including a newly surfaced and unverifiable platform that called itself Think Business Africa.
On the claim that the tax would harm the economy and lead to job losses, CAPPA noted that this is the industry’s favourite scare tactic globally.
Akinbode said: “It was the same scare tactic deployed in South Africa before they introduced their own SSB tax. Yet, the sector remained stable, and jobs were protected. In fact, in countries where the SSB tax has been successfully implemented, beverage companies adapted by reformulating products, introducing healthier alternatives, and even expanding their market share.
“Moreover, the “millions of jobs” the industry cites are largely informal retail roles — our men, mothers, and grandmothers selling sachet water and sweetened drinks at kiosks and traffic spots. They keep crying that “business is grinding to a halt,” yet they declare humongous profits every year and have even diversified into producing countless other drinks. What is so wrong in reformulating these products to make them healthy and safe for their consumers?”
On the argument that the SSB tax is a foreign policy being imposed on Nigeria, CAPPA’s ED insisted that the health crisis is local, the casualties are Nigerian, and the health infrastructure under strain is also Nigerian. Therefore, adopting global best practices in response to a shared health emergency should be understood as sound governance rather than dependency.
Corroborating Oluwafemi, Dr Joseph Ekiyor, a Global Health Practitioner and Researcher, presented data showing that raising the SSB tax to ₦130/litre could slash consumption by 29 percent, reduce obesity, and boost revenue.
Ekiyor charged the media to continue raising awareness on the dangers of SSB consumption, stressing that “behavioural change communication should be an ongoing process as repetition is necessary to inform change.”
Olukunmi Olaitan, a professor of Public Health Promotion and Nutrition Education at the University of Ilorin, likened the eating of unhealthy food to paying for death on instalment”.
Reiterating the need for an increase in SSB by at least 20 percent, Prof Olaitan called for “transparency and efficiency in labelling these products, so that consumers are better informed about what they are consuming,” and called for the “prohibition of child-focused advertising, to safeguard the health of young Nigerians.”
Also speaking on advertising and aggressive marketing by SSB companies, Joy Amafah, the In-Country Director, Food Policy Programme, GHAI, described SSB companies as “engaging in a high-stakes battle to protect their profits at the cost of public health.”
She cited global reports showing that the SSB industry is “proposing weaker taxes tailored to favour industry interests at the risk of public health by weakening the SSB tax design, the industry influence dilutes regulations, policies and processes at the country level to delay policy implementation and protect their products.”
Amafah called on governments to prevent industry influence from undermining high standards and best practices of tax design and opposing self-regulation solutions. Prepare to protect the SB tax from deceptive industry claims and defend it against legal challenges.
Joining the conversation virtually, Austin Iraoya, an Economist and Researcher, advocated for immediate action, saying there is no better time than now, for the Nigerian Government to take the right decision and increase the SSB tax. He reiterated that “SSB tax will ease the burden on the strained public health fund.”
Speaking on the sidelines of the event, members of the Health Food Policy Youth Vanguard (HFPYV) – comprising young professionals passionate about public health and healthy food – joined their voices in urging the government to act fast and implement an effective tax, in the public interest.
