Introducing Sugar tax could reverse industrial gains, hurt jobs - CPPE warns

By Seun Ibiyemi

The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has cautioned the Federal Government against introducing additional taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, warning that such a move could undermine Nigeria’s fragile economic recovery and reverse recent gains in the manufacturing sector.

In its concluding assessment, the Chief Executive Officer, CPPE, Dr. Muda Yusuf stressed that Nigeria’s economy is still in a delicate phase, with manufacturers grappling with high production costs, weak consumer purchasing power and an already heavy tax burden.

According to him, imposing a sugar-specific tax at this time would further strain the non-alcoholic beverage industry one of the most critical segments of the country’s manufacturing base, leading to potential job losses, reduced investment and higher prices for consumers.

Dr Yusuf argued that public health goals, including the fight against diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, should not be pursued in ways that jeopardise economic growth and employment. 

The organisation maintained that there is no inherent conflict between improving public health and sustaining industrial development, provided policies are balanced and well-sequenced.

The group called on policymakers to adopt holistic and development-conscious approaches that focus on education, lifestyle changes and preventive healthcare rather than punitive taxation. 

Such strategies, it noted, would deliver broader social benefits while preserving the viability of the manufacturing sector, which supports millions of livelihoods across the country.

“Additional sugar taxes risk weakening employment outcomes and undermining the objectives of ongoing manufacturing-friendly fiscal reforms,” 

He said, urging government to prioritise evidence-based policies that support both economic resilience and long-term public health outcomes.