Nigeria’s business community is raising alarms as the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) prepares to enforce its ban on sachet and small-volume alcoholic drinks by December 2025.
Recall the Senate instructed NAFDAC and other relevant regulators to commence full enforcement of the ban on producing and packaging high-strength alcoholic drinks in sachets from December 2025.
Lawmakers also ruled out any further extensions, signalling a firm end to speculation about an additional grace period for manufacturers.
Analysts are, however, warning that the policy could disrupt manufacturing operations, shrink revenue, and deepen unemployment across the sector.
Health groups, on the other hand, say the ban is essential to curb alcohol misuse and its social and health impacts.
The enforcement plan, announced on November 11, 2025, follows a previously extended moratorium with an initial phase-out date was January 2024.
The ban stems from a 2018 Memorandum of Understanding between NAFDAC, the Federal Ministry of Health, the FCCPC, and major industry associations.
The agreement sought to eliminate alcoholic beverages sold in sachets and PET bottles below 200ml.
The policy has drawn fierce opposition from the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), which claims that the enforcement could trigger a N1.9 trillion investment loss and lead to the direct layoff of over 500,000 workers, alongside five million indirect job losses.
According to MAN’s Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, such drastic figures highlight the deep economic ramifications of prohibition, and he advocates for stricter regulation rather than an outright ban.
Echoing the same sentiment, the Food, Beverage, and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB), through its President, Jimoh Oyibo, also said that with the ban, indigenous Nigerian manufacturers risk total collapse.
They also opined that smuggling and the circulation of unregulated alcoholic products may skyrocket, as well as a sharp decline in government tax revenue, as factories shut down or scale back operations.
However, several groups, including the Coalition for Healthy Food Advocacy (CHFA) and the Network for Health Equity and Development (NHED) and the Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA), have expressed support for NAFDAC’s ban on sachet alcohol.
They believe the ban is necessary to protect children, reduce alcohol addiction, and prevent non-communicable diseases and social disorders linked to the products.
They argued that the claimed job losses are exaggerated because sachet production relies heavily on automation rather than large-scale manual labour.
Speaking exclusively to Naijaonpoint, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre for The Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said that although there is a strong case for those arguing from a social point of view, he noted that from a business point, it will significantly affect demand for the products of those who have invested in that sector.
Speaking exclusively to Naijaonpoint, the Founder/Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Centre for The Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE), Dr Muda Yusuf, said that although there is a strong case for those arguing from a social point of view, he noted that from a business point, it will significantly affect demand for the products of those who have invested in that sector.
Yusuf described the situation as “a mixed bag,” stressing that the shift to sachets is simply a reaction to harsh market realities.
“Practically all FMCGs have gone into this sacheting of things because of the situation of the economy, in order to ensure access to their products,” he said.
He questioned whether banning sachets would really discourage consumption, asking, “If they are not doing sachets and they go to the bottle, has that actually solved the problem? I don’t think so.”
He noted that the debate straddles business, health, and ethics. While sachets improve access, he warned that “that increase in access has some social problems… like crime, reckless driving, and exposure of our young people.”
From a social angle, Yusuf said there is a strong case for concern.
But “from a business point of view, this is very negative because it will significantly affect demand for products of those who have invested in that sector.”
On the question of job losses, Yusuf was clear that the impact could ripple across the entire value chain. “If demand drops, there’s no way it will not affect businesses. It will,” he said, noting that producers, sellers, and downstream operators would all feel the squeeze.
He explained that sachet alcohol supports a wide network of marketers, distributors, and small-scale retailers.
“All of those people now, many of them will have to go and look for something else to do,” he added. While he cautioned that the job-loss figures being quoted may be exaggerated, he maintained that “it will have implications for jobs to the extent that it will affect those investments.”
Abdulmalik Abdulazeez, a lecturer in the Department of Economics at Nasarawa State University, warned that the ban could squeeze manufacturers financially, especially smaller firms that depend heavily on sachet-based products.
“The ongoing enforcement of NAFDAC’s ban on sachet alcohol has sparked intense debate… At the centre of this controversy is the potential economic fallout—particularly the fate of jobs and investments in the alcoholic beverage sub-sector,” he said.
According to him, the ban strikes directly at a product segment that dominates the low-income consumer market.
“Sachet and small-volume alcoholic drinks have thrived because they are affordable, widely distributed, and form a major revenue stream for many breweries and distilleries,” he noted.
Removing this segment suddenly, he explained, forces producers to deal with unsold inventory, retool production lines, rethink marketing, and manage falling sales.
On MAN’s argument on loss of investment and over 5 million jobs, Abdulazeez said, ‘’MAN’s figure that there would be five million job losses is something I don’t exactly agree with. There will be job losses, no doubt. But, I doubt it will be up to five million.’’
The Senate had a few weeks ago, directed NAFDAC and other relevant regulatory agencies to begin full enforcement of the ban on the production and packaging of high-strength alcoholic beverages in sachet formats from December 2025.
The lawmakers also resolved that no additional extension should be granted beyond the current moratorium, ending speculations of another grace period for manufacturers.
The move toward a full ban on sachet and small-volume alcoholic drinks has been building all year.
In May, NAFDAC clarified that the temporary lifting of its earlier prohibition would end on December 31, effectively setting a countdown for manufacturers to exhaust inventory and adjust production lines.
Also in May, Lagos clarified that its impending ban on single-use plastics (SUPs)—scheduled to take full effect from July 1 2025—did not include PET bottles, sachet-packaged water, or nylon carrier bags of thickness above 40 microns.