By Afolabi Idowu
The Chartered Institute of Financial and Investment Analysts, Nigeria (CIFIAN) has called on the Federal Government to urgently align its sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) tax policy with broader public health objectives and Nigeria’s industrial development goals.
The Institute warns that steep tax increases, if implemented without a coherent framework, could harm the country’s sugar economy, undermine jobs, and fail to deliver the intended health outcomes.
Speaking recently during a high-level policy workshop themed “Understanding the Impact of SSB Taxation on Nigeria’s Sugar Economy: Supply, Demand, and the Policy Disconnect”, CIFIAN President, Prof. Godfrey Omojefe, said the current N10 per litre excise duty on SSBs, introduced in 2022, has already had significant economic consequences.
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Citing data from the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC), Prof. Omojefe revealed that national sugar consumption declined by 16 percent in 2023, while domestic sugar production fell by 35 percent — from 46,479 metric tonnes in 2022 to 30,053 metric tonnes in 2023.
He noted that these drops are closely linked to a challenging economic environment and the direct impact of the existing SSB tax on beverage manufacturers, who are among the largest industrial consumers of sugar.
According to him, the SSB tax was introduced with good intentions, but without a holistic policy framework, its impact will remain limited and potentially harmful to local production, investment, and jobs.