Tobacco and Public Health - TCSC Indonesia

Table 15.2 Cigarette taxes as percentage of retail price in 1999
Nigeria 32
Cameroon 33
Senegal 36
Cote d’Ivoire 37
South Africa 38
Malawi 40
Zimbabwe 53
Uganda 61
Kenya 64
Ghana 66
should be reduced so as to discourage switching from higher priced to lower priced
tobacco products. The policy objective should be to reduce all tobacco consumption
and not just cigarette use.
The tobacco industry recognizes the implications that higher taxes and prices have
on their sales volumes, and has strongly opposed these through various strategies,
including smuggling, price-collusion, and fixing market share.
The tobacco industry
Tax as percentage of retail price
YUSSUF SALOOJEE 273
Cigarette manufacturing: All the major transnational tobacco manufacturers and leaf
companies operate in SSA, with British American Tobacco (BAT), Imperial Tobacco,
and Altadis the dominant players.
BAT is the leading manufacturer in the region with a monopoly in Zambia,
Zimbabwe, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Malawi, and Uganda, and a near monopoly in the
Democratic Republic of Congo (95% share of market), South Africa (95% share), and
Nigeria (91% share).
The second largest cigarette maker in the region is Tobaccor which has 90% of share
in 8 markets—Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Gabon, Congo, the Central African
Republic, Chad, and Madagascar. UK-based cigarette maker, Imperial Tobacco,
acquired a 75% share in Tobaccor in May 2001—paying US$ 250 million to Bollare,
the French conglomerate.
Tobacco growing: Since the late 1970s, commercial growing of tobacco has shifted
predominantly to low-income countries, primarily because of lower-production costs