Alcoholism contributed to vast socioeconomic differences in mortality. Worldwide, 3.3 million deaths every year result from the harmful use of alcohol, 2 this represent 5.9 % of all deaths. The average global alcohol consumption is 6.13 litres of pure alcohol per person over the age of 15, per year. In Africa, the average is 6.15 litres, just 20 millilitres higher.
Alcohol use is associated with numerous harmful health and social consequences, including premature death and avoidable disease and is a major avoidable risk factor for neuropsychiatric disorders, cardiovascular diseases, cirrhosis of the liver and cancer. Also, the harmful use of alcohol is a causal factor in more than 200 diseases and injury conditions.
The rise in alcohol consumption comes down to accessibility, availability and affordability. Social acceptance of the use of alcohol has led to is uncensored use and abuse. Individuals learn from an early age that alcohol can be a source of pleasure and relief, both privately and socially. Advertising equates alcohol with pleasure and relief, fun, fashion, friendship, and happiness.
The hard drinking countries on the African continent
Gabon
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Gabon consumes about 9,32 litres per year as 2017. The flavoured alcoholic drink of choice for Gabonians is clear. While 10% and 22% of alcohol consumption in Gabon comes from wine and spirits respectively, 68% comes from beer.
The cheapest and most popular beer in Gabon is Regab, costing from US$0. 70 to US$2 (between N$10, 62 and N$30, 33), and the lack of tax on any alcoholic beverages makes it easy to import from abroad.
In-fact Gabon is a dream nation for all alcohol aficionados, because it has the cheapest priced alcoholic beverages in Africa and only second to the Russian Federation in the world.
Burundi
In 2017, alcohol consumption in Burundi is about 9,47 litres per year. Narrowly beating out South Africa, drinkers in Burundi overwhelmingly prefer ‘other’ drinks, which make up 81% of consumption.
Beer, by comparison, makes up 19% of alcohol consumption and wine and spirits barely make a showing. The most famous drink in the Burundi is urwarwa or banana wine, produced in the traditional method and consumed most often during festivals and special occasions. Alcohol drinking in Burundi is almost like a tradition.
South Africa
South African adult per capita alcohol consumption in 2005 equalled 9.5 litres of pure alcohol. Of this consumption, 26.3% or 2.5 litres per person, was homemade and illegally produced alcohol or, in other words, unrecorded alcohol.
It is reckoned that South Africa consume in excess of 5 billion litres of alcohol annually; this figure is likely to be higher still if sorghum beer is included, and equates to 9 – 10 litres of pure alcohol per person in South Africa.
The abuse of alcohol also comes with risks for increased morbidity and mortality among patients with HIV in South Africa. In South Africa, for example, 60 percent of automobile accidents are the result of drunk driving. South Africa is the highest consumer of alcohol on the continent, at 11 litres per capita, second to Gabon at 10.9 litres per capita in 2011.
In such a big country, it’s no surprise there’s a wider breakup of preferred beverage choice: 56% of consumption comes from beer, which is no surprise because people are little more economically sound, while 17%, 16% and 11% come from wine, spirits, and ‘other’ respectively in 2017.
The most popular beer brands are Castle and Black Label, but the country’s extensive wine vineyards, particularly in Stellenbosch and the Western Cape, produce some of the world’s most popular wines as well. Since 1994, South Africa has attempted to influence alcohol consumption through policy changes in areas such as excise taxes, restrictions on packaging for products, allowable blood alcohol concentration levels for drivers, and warning labels on alcohol containers.
Although the alcohol industry has often stated they discourage irresponsible consumption and can be an important ally in shaping alcohol regulations, this finding makes plain that the alcohol industry’s profits in South Africa are likely driven by high-risk drinking. However, the legal age to drink alcohol in South Africa is 18, but the reality is that most children will come across alcohol long before they reach the legal age, some as young as 11.
Zambia
The Euromonitor Report of 2018 has ranked Zambia as a country with the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the region. The country has stood out first at 9.84%.
Botswana
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With about 7,96 liters per year alcohol consumption in 2017. Among the alcohol consumption in Botswana, 42% are from the ‘other’ category.
But its beer consumption is even higher, making up 57% of the total. This may be due to the high consumption of Botswana’s national beer, St Louis. Many opt for beer imports from nearby South Africa or Namibia instead.
Nigeria
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The alcohol consumption in Nigeria has significantly decreased since 2005, when it was about 12.3% and the highest in Africa. The most widely consumed local brews, known as Nigeria’s home brew, ogogoro are an extremely alcoholic drink. It has 30 to 60% ethyl alcohol content, depending on how it’s made, and is produced from the juice of raffia palm trees.
Beer makes up just 16% of alcohol consumption in Nigeria, while ‘other’ drinks make up 84% due to the high popularity of home-brewed beverages in 2017. Religious lawmakers are making it more difficult and expensive to produce and sell alcohol in the country.
Kenya
Unrecorded alcohol, alcohol that is purchased by means which precludes regulation, represents a substantial proportion of the alcohol consumed in East Africa.
According to a report, 43.3 % of students in West Kenya who are mostly male and older consume alcohol. The report showed that there is a link between the consumption of drugs, alcohol and the school environment, because school life brings stress to the students, who escape in alcohol and drug use.
São Tomé and Príncipe
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A study published in early April in the scientific journal Acta Médica Portuguesa, based on research conducted by Isabel de Santiago between September 2013 and May 2014 with 2,064 participants on São Tomé and Príncipe, 52 percent of men and 48 percent of women between the ages of 12 and 30 regularly drink alcohol.
The study indicates that the alcohol they drink is frequently contaminated with heavy metals, the scientist says, which poses serious health risks, particularly for young children including birth defects and premature death.
Namibia, Seychelles, Uganda and Rwanda
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Specifically, Uganda, Rwanda and Seychelles consumed the equivalent of approximately 11 litres of pure alcohol per capita in 2016, more than in Europe (10.3 litres) and the United States (9.3 litres).
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Alcohol consumption has also been a problem over the border in Namibia. Like its South African neighbour, Namibia has a wide breakdown of favourite drinks, but beer carries the most weight with 67% of alcohol consumption. The spirits make up 20%, wine makes up 7% and ‘other’ chips in at 6%. The country’s flagship beer, Windhoek Lager, is popular across the country and surrounding region.
The World Health Organization (WHO) ranks the country’s fifth of the African continent with a Namibian consumes an average of 9.62 litres of alcohol per year.Namibia with 108 litres of beer consumed per capita and Seychelles with 90 liters. Namibia has the second-highest beer consumption in the world, likely due to its colonial ties with Germany.
Uganda has one of the highest per capita alcohol consumption rates in sub-Saharan Africa. In 2014, at least 89 per cent of the alcohol consumed in Uganda is unregulated, home brewed and illegally sold, according to report. Uganda, with 11.93 litres of alcohol consumed per person each year. Just 4 percent of consumption is beer and 2 percent is wine, while the “other” category is a resounding winner at 94 percent of consumption.
In the WHO Global Alcohol Status Report 2018, Uganda has the seventh highest rate of alcohol consumption in Africa. Equally, 21% of Ugandans engage in binge-drinking.
The generic term for domestically distilled beverages in Uganda is the famous Ugandan Waragi, which contains around 42% of alcohol making it one of the most alcoholic spirits in the world.
This can cover a wide variety of drinks: pombe and lubisi, or locally made banana or millet beer, Tonto, a traditional fermented drink made from bananas, banana wine, and many more. However, the prevalence of alcohol use disorders (AUD) remains unknown in many areas, especially in rural districts.
About 8% of alcohol consumption comes from beer in Rwanda, despite the popular Turbo King, Primus and Amstel brands being widely available. The other 92% is largely from homemade drinks such as the banana beer, urgwagwa, and the fermented honey drink, ubuki. Ikigage, made from dry sorghum, is also common in Rwanda.
While the prevalence of alcohol use in Africa is relatively low compared to the United States and Australia and some other developing countries, prevention and intervention policies should be designed to reduce these levels by targeting the more risky subpopulations.
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