Group Calls for Ban of Imported Energy Drinks as Nigeria Losses N104B Yearly
A consumer rights protection group, Concerned Consumers (CC) has said that Nigeria loses an estimated N104 billion annually to the importation of Energy drinks.
While calling for the ban, the group added that the importation of foreign energy drinks was inimical to local manufacturing companies of similar products while adding to the already high rate of unemployment in the country.
Reeling out figures to support their call for a ban on imported energy drink brands, the CC convener, Messrs Olufemi Odebunmi argued that over 300,000 Nigerians would have been fully and gainfully employed if the market was allowed to grow indigenously.
She estimated that “an average of 1,800 and 2,000 containers of energy drinks are imported into the country annually. With each container consisting of 2,600 cases, at the going price of between N18,000 and N20,000 per case, the estimated loss to the country is over N104 billion annually.”
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Odebunmi disclosed that more than 85 per cent of the market is dominated by imported energy drink brands. “The locally manufactured brands are all struggling as they don’t have international brand names and recognition to match imported ones. They are therefore disadvantaged and even considered inferior.”
Bemoaning the unpalatable effects, she stressed that if the trade continues unchecked, it will lead to the closure of local industries leading to massive loss of jobs and scarcity of the much-needed foreign exchange, allowing the further depreciation of the naira.
In a statement titled, ‘The Importation of Energy Drinks into Nigeria despite the Proven Health Hazards and the Various Ban on Imported Juices,’ which was addressed to heads of relevant agencies of government, CC argued that “If fruit juice in retail packs is banned, then energy drinks ought to be banned and should be included in the Import Prohibition List.”
They called on relevant authorities including Nigeria Customs Service, the National Agency for Foods and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Consumers Protection Council of Nigeria, Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) to be vigilant and discourage unscrupulous importation of energy drinks into Nigeria which they claim will jeopardize the interest of the local industries and sabotage the national interest of the country.
According to Odebunmi, “We are amazed that our health and regulatory and standard organizations are still allowing imported energy drinks into the country even after the debilitating nature of the damage to our health from these imported energy drinks.
She emphasized that part of the interest in import prohibition was to promote local production of the same items, which can be seen from the burgeoning fruit juice industry in Nigeria which has grown in leaps and bounds since 2015, following its import prohibition. “There are actually a few multi-national companies in Nigeria who have now engaged in local production of energy drinks but alas, they are considered inferior and therefore suffer poor and very low patronage in comparison with the imported ones that leads one to ask when is Nigeria going to protect its territory and its citizenry?,” Odebunmi lamented.
She added that “Concerned Consumers are perplexed by various developments in our polity which do not augur well for the health of the citizens and which is also discouraging local production at the time when the country should be looking inward and saving its scarce foreign exchange.”
