CETA Amendment: Nigeria’s Sugary Drinks Tax Is A Tax For Good Health

CETA Amendment: Nigeria’s Sugary Drinks Tax Is A Tax For Good Health

Nigeria’s proposed increase in the tax on sugar-sweetened beverages is less about making drinks more expensive and more about making preventable disease harder to afford, a new advocacy argument has said.

The argument comes amid Nigeria’s growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which account for about 28 per cent of annual deaths in the country.

In an opinion piece, healthy food policy advocate Robert Egbe said the existing N10-per-litre excise duty on sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) introduced through the 2021 Finance Act is too small to significantly influence consumer behaviour or encourage manufacturers to reformulate their products.

The National Assembly has already moved to replace the fixed levy with a value-based, ad valorem tax linked to retail prices. The Senate passed the proposed amendment to the Customs, Excise Tariffs, etc. (Consolidation) Act (CETA) on June 4, 2026, with the bill awaiting concurrence by the House of Representatives.

Egbe argued that concerns over higher production costs and consumer prices overlook the far greater economic burden of treating preventable diseases.

According to the article, Nigerians spend about N1.9 trillion annually treating diabetes and other NCDs, while health-related expenses push more than one million Nigerians into poverty each year.

The piece also highlights Nigeria’s heavy reliance on out-of-pocket healthcare payments, estimated at almost 75 per cent of total health expenditure, alongside public health funding of less than six per cent of the national budget.

Egbe said sugary drinks and other ultra-processed foods high in sugar, salt and unhealthy fats are important dietary risk factors for conditions including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and some cancers.

He stressed, however, that the case of a nine-year-old girl treated for Type 1 Diabetes in Enugu should not be interpreted as evidence that unhealthy diets caused her illness.

Rather, he said the case illustrates how suddenly serious NCD-related health emergencies can confront families.

The proposed CETA amendment, he argued, provides an opportunity to shift Nigeria’s approach from treating diseases after they occur to investing more deliberately in prevention.

He also called for complementary measures including front-of-pack nutrition labelling, mandatory sodium reduction, restrictions on unhealthy food marketing and the adoption of a Nutrient Profile Model.

If effectively implemented, the stronger SSB tax could both discourage excessive consumption of sugary drinks and generate additional resources for public health interventions.

The central argument is simple: Nigeria cannot afford to treat preventable illness indefinitely while underfunding prevention.

The CETA amendment, therefore, should be viewed not simply as a tax measure, but as a potential investment in healthier families, a more productive population and a less financially strained health system.

Robert Egbe, healthy food policy advocate at Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA).