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African countries have been challenged to borrow success lessons from within the continent on how to successfully use increased taxation of tobacco products to reduce consumption, affordability and mobilise revenue for health financing and sustainability of tobacco control initiatives.
This was the clarion call from the second African Tobacco Tax Consortium (ATTC) strategy meeting held in Flic en Flac, Mauritius. The meeting brought together consortium members from the World Health Organization (WHO), the Economics of Excisable Products Research Unit (REEP) at the University of Cape Town, the African Tax Administration Forum (ATAF), Consortium Pour le Recherche Economique et Sociale (CRES) and TJNA.
The meeting sought to define objectives and strategies for country-level interventions to achieve progressive taxation of tobacco products and to develop an action plan to ensure joint messaging on tobacco taxation across the continent. In addition, the consortium discussed the way forward on positioning the ATTC as a continental expert or thought leader on tobacco tax policy advocacy and research.
Speaking during the opening session, TJNA Executive Director Chenai Mukumba called on the consortium to enhance collaboration through real-time exchange of information in order to support governments better and to tackle emerging issues that are associated with taxation of tobacco products such as the growth of illicit trade.
“Increasing tobacco taxation is definitely the most effective policy tool in curbing tobacco consumption in Africa, where many countries have maintained relatively low levels of taxation. As we work to address progressive taxation, we need to address emerging issues such as the threat posed by illicit trade on revenue and public health.” Ms Mukumba said.
TJNA serves as the secretariat to the consortium which seeks to collaborate with civil society organisations, governments and regional intergovernmental organisations to expand its efforts to reduce tobacco consumption and generate revenue for African governments under the Tobacco Tax Advocacy in Africa (TTAA) project.
The meeting also included a knowledge and experience-sharing exchange from the Mauritian revenue and health authorities. Mauritius is the first country in Africa country to achieve the WHO recommended benchmark that total taxes should account for 68 per cent of the full retail price of tobacco products and as such there are opportunities to contextualise best practices from Mauritius in other African countries.
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For more information about the African Tobacco Tax Consortium, please contact Chileshe Mange at
cmange[@]taxjusticeafrica.net.