MAN warns sachet alcohol ban risks N1.9trn investments, millions of jobs

The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has raised alarm that the planned ban on the production and sale of alcoholic drinks packaged in sachets and small PET bottles by December 31, 2025, could wipe out more than N1.9 trillion in local investments, alongside 500,000 direct jobs and 5 million indirect jobs.

The concern follows a recent directive by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to enforce the end-of-year ban, in line with a Senate resolution passed on November 6, 2025.

In a statement on Monday, MAN’s Director General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, urged the government to reverse the decision, stressing that a multi-stakeholder committee — including NAFDAC — had already addressed the contentious issues and validated the National Alcohol Policy in October 2025.

Ajayi-Kadir argued that claims linking sachet alcohol to underage consumption had been disproven by multiple independent government-backed studies.

He warned:
“This pronouncement, which we believe is counterproductive and forebodes economic dislocation of significant proportions for the nation at this period, will have serious consequences for the now stabilizing economy.”

According to him, the ban could trigger:

• Loss of N1.9 trillion in investments by mostly indigenous firms
• Retrenchment of over 500,000 direct workers and about 5 million indirect workers
• Decline in manufacturing capacity utilisation, which had only recently begun to improve
• Collapse of local businesses and erosion of homegrown entrepreneurship

Ajayi-Kadir added that eliminating local sachet-alcohol producers would open the market to smuggled foreign brands, many of which he described as potentially unsafe and harmful to government revenue.

He appealed to authorities to instead push forward the already ratified Nigeria National Alcohol Policy, insisting:
“We believe that this will make the implementation of the unwarranted ban unnecessary.”

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