|By Babatunji Wusu
The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has cautioned the Federal Government against renewed calls for additional taxes on sugar-sweetened non-alcoholic beverages, warning that such a move could undermine Nigeria’s manufacturing sector and worsen existing economic pressures.
In a statement on Monday, CPPE’s Executive Director, Dr. Muda Yusuf, acknowledged the growing public health concerns around diabetes and cardiovascular diseases but described a sugar-specific tax as economically risky and poorly grounded in evidence.
Yusuf said the proposal fails to reflect Nigeria’s structural and macroeconomic realities, arguing that it is largely influenced by foreign policy models rather than local conditions. According to him, global best practices do not support sugar taxation as a standalone or sustainable solution to non-communicable diseases, particularly in developing economies like Nigeria.
The policy think tank warned that imposing new levies on the non-alcoholic beverage industry could trigger job losses, depress household incomes, deter investment, and reverse gains in poverty reduction.
CPPE stressed that beverage manufacturers are already weighed down by multiple taxes and levies, including 30 per cent company income tax, 7.5 per cent value-added tax, a N10 per litre excise duty, a 4 per cent national development levy, import duties, ECOWAS levies, as well as various state and local government charges.
It added that these fiscal burdens are compounded by Nigeria’s harsh operating environment, marked by high energy costs, expensive logistics, exchange-rate volatility, and elevated interest rates, all of which have driven up production costs and squeezed profit margins.
According to the group, the impact is already evident, with retail prices of many non-alcoholic beverages rising by about 50 per cent over the past two years, even without the introduction of new taxes.
On the public health rationale, CPPE argued that sugar taxes deliver minimal benefits when implemented in isolation. The organisation identified poor diet quality, physical inactivity, sedentary lifestyles, unfriendly urban design, and genetic factors as the primary drivers of diabetes and other non-communicable diseases in Nigeria.
While conceding that higher taxes may slightly influence consumption patterns, CPPE warned that such measures do not address the root causes of these health challenges and come with immediate economic costs, including higher prices, reduced demand, job losses, and weakened industrial investment.
The group urged policymakers to adopt alternative, development-friendly strategies such as lifestyle and nutrition education, community-based health awareness programmes, promotion of physical activity, healthy food subsidies, and urban planning that encourages walking and cycling.
CPPE said these approaches would more effectively tackle the underlying causes of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases without jeopardising a key pillar of Nigeria’s manufacturing and employment base.
