The illicit tobacco trade in Africa amounts to 40bn cigarettes a year and an annual tax loss of around $10bn. The Coding and Tracking (C & T) system is designed to prevent this but paper based methods are slow, costly and often inaccurate. But digital C & T is revolutionising all that. Africa is joining the rest of the world and moving to the digital version.
Illicit tobacco trade is a global scourge: according to the WHO, it represents $40.5bn in lost tax revenues and accounts for 40% to 50% of the total tobacco market in certain countries.
In Africa, according to the World Bank, the illicit tobacco trade is at significant levels in several countries, such as Cameroon, where it accounts for 41%, Ethiopia with 38%, and around 25% in Algeria, Nigeria, and South Africa. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the illicit tobacco trade amounts to 43bn cigarettes and an annual tax revenue loss of $10bn.
To tackle this phenomenon, C&T (Coding & Tracking) is a tool promoted on an international scale through the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) and, more specifically, its Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which came into force on September 25, 2018.
Coding & tracking (C&T) is a technology that enables the coding and tracking of products (including tobacco, beverages, medicines, and cosmetics) to trace them from manufacturing facilities to the first buyer.
The WHO Protocol (Article 8) on the coding and tracing of tobacco products requires access to detailed information, such as the date and location of manufacture, the name, invoice, order number and payment records of the first customer who is not affiliated with the manufacturer, etc.
These details can be aggregated using the digital C&T solution, linking cigarette packs to cartons and cartons to boxes through a unique code on each pack, combined with digital tracking systems.
Digital C&T offers a global solution that also verifies product authenticity to combat illicit trade and counterfeiting, enhances transparency in manufacturers’ supply chains, ensures compliance with quality standards for consumers, and secures tax collection for governments.
Alongside the digital solution, other C&T solutions exist such as paper-based solutions with stamps and labels. However, these have limitations in tracking capabilities as they cannot really integrate post-manufacturing information, such as subsequent logistical events (e.g., movement from factory to warehouse and then to the first buyer).
Digital C&T is already implemented within the European Union under the 2014 Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) and in the United Kingdom through the digital solution by Dentsu.
In Africa, digital C&T is also used in Congo-Brazzaville. Paper solutions are in use in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Morocco, Tanzania, and are being implemented in Côte d’Ivoire.
In addition to not fully meeting WHO requirements, the paper solution represents a significant additional cost for local manufacturers. In fact, in addition to the cost of the stamps themselves, paper solutions (which require a physical paper to be affixed rather than a code printed on the pack at high laser speed) slow down machine speeds, resulting in a 15-20% loss in productivity.
As the stamps have to be affixed to the packs, which move along the production lines at a very high speed (250 to 400 packets per minute), it is necessary to slow down the speed of the machines, as applying and affixing the stamps can lead to numerous rejections due to non- Confidential compliance of the stamps, jamming of the stamping machines, rejection due to the stamp not being read, etc.
Africa moves with the world
Nevertheless, there are a number of positive signs in Africa: all the continent’s countries (except Eritrea, Malawi, Morocco, South Sudan, Somalia) are Parties to the FCTC, and many states are in the process of issuing tenders or have already conducted tenders and are now contracting with C&T operators.
For example, Madagascar, after a robust process involving calls for expressions of interest and tenders, selected the digital solution from Dentsu. Although implementation appears to be slightly delayed pending official contractual finalization, Madagascar’s choice of a digital solution reflects a rigorous selection process designed to meet international obligations to combat tobacco trafficking, ensure product origin security for consumers, and strengthen state tax revenues.
With two major events this year—the COP11 and MOP4 conferences scheduled for November— 2025 is shaping up to be an ambitious year for collective efforts to combat tobacco product trafficking, particularly through the implementation of digital C&T in Africa and around the world.
