Kenya is lagging behind many of its African peers in the global transition towards a smoke-free society, with experts blaming high costs, limited access and policy barriers that continue to undermine alternatives to conventional cigarettes.
A new global report released ahead of “World No Tobacco Day” this Sunday ranks Kenya 75th out of 101 countries in readiness to transition away from combustible tobacco products, placing it in the lower half of the nations assessed.
The ranking evaluated countries on accessibility, affordability, and acceptance of less harmful alternatives to smoking.
The findings expose a contradiction in Kenya’s tobacco control landscape. While the country scores highly for having a regulatory framework that recognises emerging nicotine products such as nicotine pouches and permits their legal use and oversight, affordability and accessibility remain major weaknesses.
According to the report, Kenya ranked 60th globally on affordability and 74th on accessibility of alternatives such as nicotine pouches and vaping products, raising concerns that current taxation and regulatory proposals could make safer alternatives nearly as expensive and difficult to obtain as traditional cigarettes.
This, analysts say, risks diluting the role of tobacco harm reduction strategies that seek to encourage smokers to move away from combustible tobacco.
Compared with other African countries, Kenya’s performance appears increasingly uncompetitive.
Egypt ranked second globally, while Algeria, Nigeria, Cameroon, Morocco, Angola, and Ghana all posted stronger overall performances in the transition to smoke-free alternatives.
Kenya ranked below even South Africa in the overall index despite leading in the acceptability of nicotine pouches.
This comparison reveals that countries like Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Angola, and Ghana, despite varying individual scores, demonstrate a more cohesive approach to making smoke-free products accessible and affordable, leading to higher overall rankings.
The report suggests that countries that have combined supportive regulation with broader access and lower costs for alternatives are making faster progress toward reducing smoking prevalence.
Kenya, meanwhile, continues to carry a heavy health burden from tobacco use. About 12,000 adults die annually from smoking-related illnesses, according to figures cited in the report.
Although smoking prevalence among adults has dropped significantly from 15 per cent in 2000 to eight per cent in 2025, campaigners argue the pace of decline remains too slow to eliminate the problem within a generation.
Stakeholders in the tobacco harm reduction space are now calling for policymakers to reconsider taxation and market access rules governing alternative nicotine products.
Harm Reduction Society of Kenya Secretary General Dr. Kariuki Michael said Kenya risks missing a major public health opportunity if safer alternatives remain financially out of reach for smokers seeking to quit cigarettes.
He argued that making alternatives genuinely cheaper and easier to obtain than combustible tobacco could provide the country’s estimated 2.3 million smokers with a practical pathway away from smoking.
“For Kenya to truly leverage the public health potential of safer alternatives, policymakers must re-evaluate the current tax and access frameworks,” he said, warning that policy decisions should focus on reducing smoking-related deaths rather than creating barriers to transition.
Similar concerns were raised by consumer advocacy groups, which warned that policy recognition without practical affordability and accessibility may not deliver meaningful public health outcomes.
Africa Consumer Advocacy Foundation Executive Director, Anselm Maina, said millions of adult smokers remain trapped between awareness of safer alternatives and their inability to afford or access them.
“Recognition alone is not enough,” he said, noting that policies intended to reduce tobacco harm must support smokers attempting to switch away from cigarettes rather than unintentionally discouraging them.
The debate comes as governments globally continue balancing public health objectives, tobacco regulation, and taxation policy.
For Kenya, the challenge may now lie not in whether alternative nicotine products should exist within the regulatory framework — a step the country has largely addressed — but whether policy choices can create conditions that make smoke-free alternatives a realistic option for smokers.
As pressure grows to cut tobacco-related deaths and healthcare costs, experts say the country’s next policy decisions could determine whether Kenya closes the gap with leading African and global markets in the pursuit of a smoke-free future.
