Are Namibians the heaviest drinkers on the Continent?....Almost , but not even close to Nigerians

Are Namibians the heaviest drinkers on the Continent?....Almost, but not even close to Nigerians

If you believe the poets people started to intoxicate themselves using alcohol or other drugs from the first moment that they realized that they exist. At that moment humankind began to understand there would inevitably come the unspeakable moment where they would no longer exist and hence there was good reason to try to forget. Intoxication using alcohol has been part of human culture for many thousands of years and while alcohol is perhaps the most common there are many ways that cultures have found to help deal with the more unfortunate aspects of human reality.

For decades African leaders have decried the purported heavy drinking habits of their citizens. Early in his presidency founding president of Zambia, Dr Kenneth  Kaunda famously said that that he did not want to be the president of a country of drunkards. Few took him seriously. Alas Kaunda is not alone, as the former president of Bostwana Khama Ian Khama, the son of one of Africa’s greatest leaders Seretse Khama (who liked his whiskey), started a war on alcohol which had many destructive effects. In Namibia the President Geingob, when announcing the second stage of the Covid-19 lockdown made his feelings about alcohol consumption known and followed South Africa model of closing all liquor outlets during the lockdown. The decision is not without merit given the relatively high rates of domestic violence in Namibia. It is probably safe to say that locking otherwise unemployed men and women in their houses for months on end with nothing to do but drink would not be conducive to law and order and the safety of spouses and children. In Zambia the government has allowed its citizens to buy alcohol and consume it at home.

If the World Health Organization 2018 report on global alcohol consumption per capita (based largely on 2016 data) is to be believed then Namibia, in the African league table of serious drinkers, is way up there coming a close third after Nigeria and Eswatini (Swaziland). Zambians and Zimbabweans are veritable teetotalers in comparison with consumption per capita at half that of Namibians. This is probably more to do with the collapse of both economies first under Kaunda and later under Mugabe in Zimbabwe than any purposeful anti-alcohol policies of either country.  Lower incomes will almost certainly mean less alcohol consumption. Botswana, on the other hand, does have relatively high per capita consumption of alcohol despite former President Ian Khama’s attempt to tax alcohol to death. Batswana still continue to drink though they are paying the treasury dearly for their tipple. The main unintended victims of Khama’s policies was been the night life and live music in Botswana which suffered terribly under his abstemious rule. 

Country	Alcohol, total per capita (15+) consumption (in litres of pure alcohol)
Angola	6.4
Botswana	8.4
Eswatini	9.9
Germany	13.4
Ghana	2.7
Ireland	13
Mozambique	2.4
Namibia	9.8
Nigeria	13.4
Russia	11.7
South Africa	9.3
UK	11.5
USA	9.8
United Republic of Tanzania	9.4
Zambia	4.8
Zimbabwe	4.8

Source: WHO

As is well known, the road to hell is paved with good intentions and banning alcohol consumption has been tried and failed just about everywhere.  Namibia’s experience was simply no different. The main beneficiaries of the President Geingob’s policy have been unintended, smugglers and black marketers have profited handsomely from providing Namibians with the alcohol they have craved over the last two months. Another group which has also profited has been the other drug pushers who have, according to the police, seen a spike in demand for illicit drugs in the last two months. No matter what the policies or penalties people generally do find one way or another to intoxicate themselves. In all fairness to President Geingob’s policies the real beneficiaries of the abstention during the lockdown may well have been the spouses and children who were not beaten by drunken, frustrated parents and partners.  How many benefited is much harder to calculate.

So is there a clever, if not a good way to mix Covid-19 with alcohol policy? The Indians, as ever have been very inventive in the way they have managed their lockdown and the question of alcohol consumption. The government, always looking for another way to make a rupee, imposed a 70% excise tax on alcohol to allow Indians to buy alcohol and consume it at home. Good-bye black marketers and smugglers. Unfortunately such an easy option is not available to Namibia or the other smaller countries of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). SACU is not only a customs union it is also an excise union with all five countries having agreed to pool their excise revenues as well as customs duties. While the customs pool benefits the smaller countries the excise pool goes mainly South Africa because it is distributed based on the share of each country’s GDP and South Africa is by far the largest. So just jacking up Namibian excise taxes would have financially benefited South Africa and not Namibia. However, Namibia does have the right to impose health and environmental taxes which would go to Windhoek rather than Pretoria. But raising taxes on alcohol will also have un-intended consequences making dagga and other illegal intoxicants relatively cheaper.

There is no doubt that government has lost an opportunity to raise taxes on alcohol and keep them there after the lockdown. It is time for government to revisit its policies on alcohol and other drugs so as to develop a comprehensive, rational and humane program over the coming years. Now that the elections are over and President Geingob is not up for reelection he should set up a commission of inquiry of experts into alcohol and drug abuse in Namibia and then heed its recommendations.