Zambia Chamber of Commerce raises the alarm over Tobacco Control Bill

The Zambia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ZACCI) has expressed concern over the proposed Tobacco Control Bill No. 40 of 2025, warning that its current provisions could undermine private sector confidence, discourage investment, and destabilise a key sector of the country’s economy.

In a statement issued on Monday Chamber president, Anthony Kabaghe, acknowledged the importance of regulating tobacco use, particularly in addressing public health risks and protecting vulnerable groups.

However, Kabaghe cautioned that the proposed law, in its present form, risked upsetting the balance between public health objectives and economic stability.

“While government intervention in tobacco control is necessary, effective policy must also safeguard livelihoods, investment certainty, and the broader economic environment,” he noted.

Kabaghe argued that the Bill extended beyond its primary objective of regulating tobacco consumption, venturing into areas such as manufacturing, trade, and distribution.

According to him, this expansion risked creating overlaps with institutions responsible for commerce and industry, thereby introducing regulatory uncertainty and weakening policy coherence. It warned that such signals could deter both local and foreign investors.

The Chamber further highlighted the importance of the tobacco sector to Zambia’s economy, stating that it supported tens of thousands of jobs across the value chain, from smallholder farmers to retailers.

It also argued that the sector contributed significantly to export earnings, foreign exchange generation, and government revenue, while playing a key role in rural economic development.

Kabaghe cautioned that overly restrictive regulations could lead to unintended consequences, including a decline in formal sector activity, growth in illicit trade, loss of government revenue, and disruption of rural livelihoods.

He added that experiences from other countries showed that excessive regulation often pushed economic activity into informal markets rather than eliminating demand.

Kabaghe also raised concern over the absence of an updated Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Bill, as required under the Business Regulatory Act.

He argued that relying on outdated analysis failed to reflect current economic conditions, compliance costs, and enforcement capacity.

Additionally, ZACCI pointed to several provisions in the Bill that required reconsideration.

These include what it described as the overreach of the Ministry of Health into commercial regulatory functions, ambiguous legal definitions, limited representation of key sectors such as agriculture, and compliance requirements that may disproportionately affect small businesses.

Read more: Zambia youth groups urge Parliament to pass Tobacco Control Bill despite industry pushback

Meanwhile, Zambia suffers an estimated K1.6 billion to K2.8 billion in annual economic losses due to tobacco-related healthcare costs and lost productivity, according to the African Tobacco Control Alliance (ATCA).

Kouami Kossiwa, the Interim Executive Secretary of ATCA, said the alliance is closely observing Zambia’s public health landscape as the Tobacco Control Bill 2025 is being discussed in Parliament.

In a statement issued in Lomé, Togo, Kossiwa noted that the estimated losses do not account for the profound social impacts embedded in the tobacco supply chain.

She highlighted that in Zambia’s tobacco-growing regions, farmers are often trapped in cycles of debt through contract farming systems that prioritize corporate profit over rural welfare.

Kossiwa added that the resulting economic pressure frequently leads to child labour, with children withdrawn from school to handle toxic tobacco leaves—exposing them to nicotine poisoning without protective equipment.

“Aligning national legislation with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) creates big wins for health and the economy,” she said.

Kossiwa stressed that Zambia had reached a critical juncture as it determines how to safeguard the health of its population—especially vulnerable groups—from a major public health threat. She noted that the world is watching Zambia’s response to the tobacco epidemic, which claims more than 7,000 Zambian lives annually.

She said that for too long, a narrative had been promoted suggesting that tobacco is an economic asset for Zambia.

However, she pointed to examples on the continent that demonstrate otherwise.

“In Senegal, strong tobacco control measures resulted in a more than 25 percent decrease in adult tobacco consumption between 2015 and 2023, while enabling the government to increase excise taxes and boost public-health revenue,” Kossiwa said.

She added that Ethiopia had set a continental benchmark by strictly prohibiting tobacco industry interference in public policy—a safeguard that has strengthened its national health programmes.

Kossiwa explained that such frameworks have proved powerful for domestic resource mobilization. Through appropriate track-and-trace systems, governments have been able to counteract illicit trade and reclaim control from tax-evading entities. This, she said, discredits the notion that regulation harms the economy, showing instead that it strengthens it.

“According to the 2025 Africa Tobacco Industry Interference Index, Zambia ranked the lowest among 20 surveyed countries in protecting its public-health policies from tobacco industry interference,” she stated.

Kossiwa said this ranking signals that Zambia remains vulnerable to corporate influence that undermines its health goals. As a Party to the WHO FCTC since 2008, Zambia is under global scrutiny to fulfill its treaty obligations.

She emphasized that Article 5.3 of the FCTC requires countries to shield health policies from an industry with a well-documented history of diluting, delaying, and dismantling regulations for financial gain.

“It is important to clarify that comprehensive tobacco regulation does not seek to eliminate farmers’ livelihoods or restrict citizens’ rights,” Kossiwa said. “Rather, it establishes a long-overdue framework for regulating a deadly product.”

She added that measures such as smoke-free public spaces and graphic health warnings are designed to protect children and non-smokers, while ensuring the public is aware of the serious risks associated with tobacco use.

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