Nigeria spends N104bn annually on importation of energy drinks…

A consumer rights protection group, Concerned Consumers (CC) has said that Nigeria is losing an estimated N104 billion annually to the importation of energy drinks.

While calling for its ban, the group added that the importation of foreign energy drinks was inimical to local manufacturing companies of similar products, adding to the already high rate of unemployment in the country.

Reeling out figures to support their call for a ban on imported energy drink brands, the Concerned Consumer convener, Ms Olufemi Odebunmi, argued that over 300,000 Nigerians would have been fully and gainfully employed if the market was allowed to grow locally.

She estimated that “an average of 1,800 and 2,000 containers of energy drinks are imported into the country annually. With each container consisting of 2,600 cases, at the going price of between N18,000 and N20,000 per case, the estimated loss to the country is over N104 billion annually.”

Odebunmi disclosed that more than 85 per cent of the market is dominated by imported energy drink brands. “The locally manufactured brands are all struggling as they don’t have international brand name and recognition to match imported ones. They are therefore disadvantaged and even considered inferior.”

Bemoaning the unpalatable effects, she stressed that if the trade continues unchecked, it will lead to closure of local industries leading to massive loss of jobs and scarcity of the much-needed foreign exchange, allowing the further depreciation of the Naira.