By Vinjeru Mkandawire of The Daily Telegraph
Big Tobacco has long looked to overseas markets for a friendly welcome amid declining cigarette sales and lobbying by anti-smoking activists at home. But now, nationwide lockdowns and social distancing measures on auction floors around the world have thrown their sales and international supply chains into uncertainty.
At every major turning point in regulation in Europe and the US, tobacco companies have been able to count on bumper sales and fast growth in low and middle income countries. When the Eighties brought a crackdown on tobacco advertising and sports censorship across the western hemisphere, big brands sought refuge abroad. After 46 US states sued the industry, eventually agreeing to a $366 billion settlement in the late Nineties, the biggest tobacco groups set their sights on markets such as Malaysia, the Philippines and Colombia. Investments would later follow in countries such as Turkey, Vietnam and South Korea.
As smoking bans accelerated from 2007, Marlboro-maker Altria moved to split Philip Morris, severing its fast-growing international unit from its sluggish US sales. Strong gains in markets such as Argentina, Indonesia and Egypt were laid out in stark contrast to falling cigarette consumption at home. Even when the big brands faced criticism in 2008 for targeting young people in African countries with branded concerts, competitions and a string of other marketing campaigns, industry bosses continued to enjoy a sales boom on the continent.
Today, the majority of the world's 1.1 billion smokers (roughly 80 per cent) live in low and middle-income nations, according to Action on Smoking and Health (ASH). Most tobacco farming has also shifted from high-income countries in Europe and North America to markets in Africa, Asia and South America. However, cigarette factories and sales around the world have come under pressure from government-mandated shutdowns due to the global coronavirus outbreak. Big brands have also been hit by reduced duty-free sales as empty airports take their toll.