It is not rare to find people huddled in shacks, sipping alcohol from cups and glasses into the wee hours of the morning all across Africa. Most of the time, this alcohol is illicit and some are known as chang’aa or ‘Kill me Quick’ in Kenya, bokha in Libya, and bojalwa in Botswana.
According to the World Health Organisation, half of all alcohol drunk in Africa is illegal. This comes with dire consequences to the community including deaths, poverty, health issues, loss of government revenue, among others.
A new report, Alcohol in the Economic Shadow by the International Alliance for Responsible Drinking (Iard), lists countries where illicit alcohol is produced in large quantities.
According to the report, a number of factors contribute to the presence of unregulated and illicit alcohol. Top on the list is poverty since most of these illicit drinks are cheaper than the regulated ones. Other factors are affordability, availability and culture.
Scroll through for the countries that produce the most illicit alcohol in Africa.
