Tactics range from the exploitation of farmers and use of child labour to threats and intimidation, and a “continent-spanning spy network”. All to pursue BAT’s own commercial goals.

Examples from across the region feature on an illustrative map, and below are links to further reading which provide a comprehensive understanding of the company’s activities in Africa.

Sabotage, Deceit and Duplicity: British American Tobacco Uncovered

Significant new reports and briefings can be found on the BAT Uncovered micro-site of TCRG’s partner organisation STOP at exposetobacco.org

These cover new allegations of bribery across Africa, and dirty tricks in South Africa.

Briefing papers on BAT’s alleged capture of state agencies, potential complicity in smuggling in South Africa and alleged connection to an attempted bribery conspiracy in Zimbabwe will be published on this site in due course.

Buying Influence and Advantage in Africa

Analysis of whistleblower documents by the Tobacco Control Research Group (TCRG) at the University of Bath found a “large number of questionable payments” made by BAT over a five-year period.  This huge international corporation used these payments to influence policy and undermine competing tobacco companies, both international and local.

• Read the report summary: Buying Influence and Advantage in Africa: An Analysis of British American Tobacco’s Questionable Payments

BAT made payments impacting ten countries in East and Central Africa. They were made to politicians and civil servants, staff of competitor companies, journalists, farmers and others involved in positions of potential influence.  The use of these payments appeared to be systematized and supported by senior staff, including in BAT’s London office.

The full report details the payments and describes the serious consequences of this unethical business activity. It also suggests that governments globally should more closely examine BAT’s behaviour.

• Read the full report: “Unlawful Bribes?”: A documentary analysis showing British American Tobacco’s use of payments to secure policy and competitive advantage in Africa¹

The leaked source documents are publicly available in the UCSF Industry Documents Library Africa Collection (University of California, San Francisco).

Dirty Tricks in South Africa

In the report on British American Tobacco in South Africa, TCRG researchers explain how BAT has fought to maintain its dominance of this key market over decades, in the face of increased competition and growing illicit trade. The report describes how the company has used “any means necessary” to hold its position, including paying another company to run a “massive secret surveillance and informant network in Southern Africa on behalf of BAT”.

The report details BAT’s use of third party service providers, allegedly overseen and run by senior operatives at BAT’s London headquarters.  It also explains how BAT is “yet to face meaningful consequences for its actions either in the region or at home in the U.K.” after the U.K. Serious Fraud Office (SFO) dropped its five-year investigation in January 2021.

BAT has repeatedly denied accusations of corporate espionage, corruption and law-breaking,² but new analysis of leaked documents raises serious questions about BAT’s activities in South Africa, particularly in relation to tobacco smuggling and tax evasion.

The research by the TCRG was carried out in collaboration with BBC’s Panorama, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Organized Crime and Reporting Project.

• Read the report: British American Tobacco in South Africa: Any Means Necessary

See also:

The BBC’s Panorama documentary programme, broadcast on 13 September 2021, which “unveils new revelations about the corrupt practices deployed by one of Britain’s biggest companies.”³

• Watch ‘Dirty Secrets of the Cigarette Business’ (BBC iPlayer, UK only, registration required)
• Watch on BBC World Saturday 18 September 2021 (Africa link, switch to other regions at the bottom of the page, note times are GMT)

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism

• Read: Smoke Screen: BAT’s agents brokered bribe proposal⁴
• Listen: Smoke Screen: Love, bribes, lies and spies in the tobacco industry

Victoria Hollingsworth tells the true story of corrupt practices behind the scenes at British American Tobacco. Hear from the very people caught up in this world as the Bureau sinks deep into the dirty underbelly of the tobacco industry in South Africa.

BAT in Africa: A History of Double Standards

TobaccoTactics details the history of BAT’s double standards, exposing a difference between its stated goals and principles, and its activities in low and middle-income African countries.  It includes links to earlier allegations against BAT, featured in a 2015 Panorama programme and media coverage at the time.

• See British American Tobacco in Africa: A History Double Standards

This page brings the story up to date…

• See British American Tobacco in Africa: Continuing Allegations of Misbehaviour

References

The post The BAT Files: How British American Tobacco Bought Influence in Africa appeared first on TobaccoTactics.

Background

Since independence, South Sudan has struggled to establish a unified government and has been subject to conflict between opposing political groups.

In 2020, the population of South Sudan was 11.2 million. ⁵ It has one of the world’s highest proportions of young people, with a median age of only 18.6 years.⁶ The life expectancy of South Sudanese men is 56.4 years and for women is 59.4 years.⁷ It is also one of the world’s poorest countries and is classified by the World Bank as low-income.⁸

Tobacco Use in South Sudan

According to the Tobacco Atlas 2016, every year more than 3,200 people die of tobacco-related disease in South Sudan while more than half a million people over the age of 15 use tobacco daily. ⁹

Tobacco in South Sudan

The cigarette market in 2019 in South Sudan was estimated to have sold just over 3,000 million sticks and be worth US$106 million by Euromonitor International.¹⁰ Euromonitor does not have market share data available for South Sudan. However, the Haggar Cigarette and Tobacco Company, which was founded in South Sudan in 1948, was acquired by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) in 2011.¹¹ According to its corporate website, British American Tobacco (BAT) is also active in the country through its Kenya office.¹²

Roadmap to Tobacco Control

As of August 2021, South Sudan has not signed the World Health Organization’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC). It also has not reported data related to the implementation of MPOWER measures in the country.¹³

Tobacco Industry Interference

According to documents and testimony from a whistle-blower, British American Tobacco has been involved in the smuggling and illicit trade of tobacco in South Sudan and the wider region. The documents, reported in The Guardian newspaper, purport to show that “BAT made plans to launch in South Sudan just two days before it gained independence from the north after years of destruction from a civil war that left 4 million people displaced”¹⁴.

According to the minutes of BAT’s Project South Sudan Kick Off Meeting: “Our strategic intent for this market is to develop sustainable volume initially and the value will come later. The intention is to enter the market with Sportsman and Safari brands which are already widely recognised. The majority of the market is in the Low and Very Low segments”. Moreover, the newspaper’s investigation revealed that BAT and other tobacco corporations used threats against at least eight African nations, including South Sudan, demanding they dismiss or dilute tobacco control measures. ¹⁴The allegations, among others, were investigated by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office but in 2021 it announced that it would not pursue a prosecution. BAT has denied any wrongdoing.

Extensive research published in 2021 by the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, a partner in STOP, and in conjunction with BBC’s Panorama, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project uncovered multiple instances of British American Tobacco seeking to frustrate tobacco control measures in Africa.

• For more details visit The BAT Files on Tobacco Tactics

TobaccoTactics Resources

• British American Tobacco
• Japan Tobacco International
• Africa’s Tobacco Epidemic
• A list of TobaccoTactics pages on Africa

References

The post South Sudan- Country Profile appeared first on TobaccoTactics.