BACKGROUND AND IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES: This paper examines the evolving tactics employed by tobacco companies to target youth populations and undermine tobacco control policies in Kenya and Nigeria which are two of Africas' large economies.
INTERVENTION OR RESPONSE: Drawing from social media analyses, market surveillance data and desktop research, documented are the ways in which the tobacco industry has adapted its marketing strategies to capture the youth in these key African markets. The paper reveals youth-targeting approaches including: Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, social media influencer campaigns disguised as lifestyle content, strategic product placement, sponsorship of youth-focused events and the introduction of shisha and flavored nicotine products marketed as “safer alternatives” to traditional tobacco products. In both countries, tobacco companies have actively interfered with policies which are aimed at protecting youth, particularly through challenging graphic health warnings, opposing flavor bans and exploiting social media and online spaces to promote youth-focused initiatives.
RESULTS AND IMPACT: Despite similar regulatory frameworks in the two countries, implementation challenges differ significantly: Kenya faces significant resistance to enforcement while Nigeria struggles with enforcing penalties for tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship (TAPS) and tobacco control violations in compliance with national tobacco control policies.
CONCLUSIONS: The concerning trends in both markets where tobacco companies exploit regulatory gaps in digital marketing oversight and employ third- party vendors to circumvent youth access restrictions is highlighted in the paper. To address such concerns, governments in the two countries should protect public health policies with respect to tobacco control from the commercial and other vested interests of the tobacco industry in line with Article 5.3 of the WHO-FCTC. They should also commit to implementing these measures across departments of government that may have an interest in or the capacity to affect public health policies with respect to tobacco control and strengthen targeted interventions such as digital marketing regulations, school- zone enforcement and youth-led counter-marketing campaigns.