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Africa faces a growing threat from neo-colonial alcohol marketing

2015; Wiley; Volume: 110; Issue: 9 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/add.13019

1360-0443

Isidore Obot,

Community Health and Development

Africa may be on the threshold of a significant escalation in alcohol consumption and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality, driven in part by the alcohol industry's marketing strategies there, some of which have their roots in colonialism. An understanding of these strategies is important in developing an effective response. In this issue, Ferreira-Borges and colleagues discuss alcohol and public health in Africa, highlighting an urgent need for African countries to make strategic shifts in the implementation of alcohol control policies. Unlike the internationally controlled psychoactive substances, alcohol is indigenous to Africa and has been part of communal life in the continent for centuries. Whether it is palm wine in Nigeria, Chibuku in South Africa or Kachasu in Zambia, locally produced alcohol-containing beverages have served the taste of Africans for a very long time. In pre-colonial societies alcohol was consumed in moderation by a segment of the adult population for personal enjoyment and as part of community rituals, but drunkenness was not unheard of 1. With the coming of European traders and colonizers, distilled spirits were introduced to native Africans as gifts and as an article of exchange for goods and slaves. More importantly, Africans became acquainted with the process of making what came to be known as 'hot drinks' or 'hard liquor', and these became part of the alcohol scene in many African colonial outposts 2. Although trade in humans ended, the boom in alcohol trade continued and has remained strong until the present time 3. One of the obvious legacies of European contact with Africa has been the widespread production of western-style beverages (especially beer) for local consumption. With the increased availability of alcoholic drinks, whatever alcohol-related problems might have existed were exacerbated and concerns were indeed expressed by some heads of traditional institutions about violence and disorderly behaviour associated with drinking in colonial societies of West Africa 1, 2. The reactions of the new arrivals in the region were mixed, reflecting the love–hate public image of alcohol that has remained until today. While alcohol was regarded as a harbinger of social malaise by some, others focused on the substantive economic benefits derivable from alcohol taxation in the newly established colonies. It mattered to the producers and marketers, then, that income depended upon how many people drank and how much they drank, just as it does today. More than 50% of Africans do not drink alcohol, due in large part to religious proscription 4. Adult per-capita consumption in Africa is below the global average (6 and 6.2 litres, respectively), but the total alcohol consumed by drinkers in countries such as The Gambia (31 litres), Nigeria (23 litres), Uganda (24 litres) and South Africa (27 litres) is much higher than the global average of 17.2 and 19.5 litres in Africa as a whole. With the increasing availability of a wide variety of beverages, the growing presence of various social and economic factors and the absence of appropriate policy responses 4, 5, Africa may be on the threshold of a significant escalation in rates of consumption and alcohol-related morbidity and mortality. The impact of the colonial experience is seen in all aspects of life in many African countries, including what is consumed. Although traditional alcoholic beverages can be obtained easily in poor urban areas and in villages, in most countries commercial beer is a preferred beverage 4. Local production of this type of beverage started in colonial Nigeria in 1949, with the establishment of the Nigerian Breweries Limited (NBL; maker of Star) and Diageo's Guinness (maker of the very popular stout) in 1962 (2 years after the end of colonial rule). Beginning as a technical partner of NBL, Heineken NV is now majority shareholder in the company and Diageo's Guinness is by far the largest producer of stout. As they seek to maintain their leading positions, these and other producers across Africa also continue to introduce new types of beverages into the African market. Developments in information technology have influenced the ways in which alcohol is marketed and promoted in Africa, but the one popular approach still relies upon strategies that date back to colonial days. Like the smart discovery by the British colonial rulers that it was easier to manage people through a system of 'indirect rule' using traditional rulers, the alcohol industry has perfected a marketing and promotion strategy in countries such as Nigeria and Ghana that relies on the deference usually accorded traditional institutions. In this adaptation of cultural motifs Seaman's Schnapps has, for years, been advertised as the 'original Number 1 prayer [libation] drink', a drink that 'fulfills the yearning of our valued heritage passed down the ages'. This fondness for dressing alcohol in the paraphernalia of culture and tradition is at play today in the production and marketing of the best-selling Orijin, a herbal drink with 6% alcohol content introduced in Nigeria in 2013. Launched across the country in the palaces of high chiefs, the drink is a response to the African belief in the remedial action of concoctions with 'medicinal' roots and leaves. Orijin is sold today in Ghana and Kenya and is likely to become one of Diageo's most successful beverages. The recourse to what is left of colonial era culture and tradition in alcohol advertising is further evident in a World Health Organization-funded project on Monitoring Alcohol Marketing and Promotion in Africa (MAMPA). This study was piloted in The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda and later conducted in Madagascar 6-8. What stood out clearly was that in most of these countries there was a large volume of marketing in various media, including marketing often involving the association of drinking with success and popularity, and that alcohol was often promoted as a product deserving of cultural pride. Within this context, Africa is a new frontier for the alcohol industry. Perhaps combined efforts of governments, the public health community and civil society will be able to temper and counter the adverse effects of alcohol and its marketing. None.