By Kemo Kanyi
The Gambia spends an estimated 14.4 billion dalasis annually on cigarettes, according to Omar Conteh, Head of the Tobacco Industry Monitoring Team and Programme Coordinator at RAID–The Gambia.
Mr. Conteh said the country does not manufacture tobacco products but serves mainly as a consumption market, hosting companies that import and distribute tobacco and nicotine products.
He disclosed that national tobacco use prevalence stands at 16.7 percent, with men aged 25–44 recording a significantly higher rate of 31 percent. Shisha use among school children aged 12–20 is estimated at 8.4 percent, while exposure to second-hand smoke in public places affects 66 percent of adults. Children aged 13–15 face exposure in enclosed public spaces at a rate of 61.8 percent.
According to 2024 estimates, about 400,800 smokers consume nearly four million cigarettes daily, resulting in an annual economic cost of 14.4 billion dalasis, he said.
Despite The Gambia’s commitments under the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (WHO FCTC), Mr. Conteh warned that the tobacco industry continues to interfere in public policy through lobbying, misleading economic claims and corporate social responsibility initiatives.
“There is an irreconcilable conflict between the interests of the tobacco industry and public health policy,” he said, adding that tobacco products are addictive and contribute to disease, death and broader social and economic harm, including poverty.
Mr. Conteh further cautioned that the aggressive promotion of so-called harm reduction products, such as vapes, electronic cigarettes and shisha, mainly sustains nicotine addiction and attracts new users, particularly young people, posing a serious threat to the country’s tobacco
