Segun Obagbemi has worked for British American Tobacco since 2002. He has held various roles, primarily in marketing, and has been based in both Nigeria andSierra Leone.
“In my experience, despite the realities
of operating in the developing
economies of Africa, we go to great
lengths to ensure we conduct
ourselves in a responsible way. For
example, while working in post civil
war Sierra Leone, we held several
sessions to educate our trade partners
and retailers on the importance of
preventing sales of tobacco products
to the underage. We also conducted
similar sessions on our IMS.
In Nigeria, where I am currently based,
there are many legal restrictions
around tobacco advertising,
promotion and sales of tobacco to
the underage. Even with this strong
legal framework, the nature of the
marketplace still presents challenges
to sticking to our standards and
principles, albeit ones we believe
we can overcome.
For instance, retail outlets in Nigeria
are often mobile stalls or shops that
can frequently move location. This
means that the point-of-sale materials
that we provide them with can be
moved from a location that adheres
to our IMS one day, to one that does
not the next day. For example,
it may be moved the next day to be
very near a school. We work hard
to address this and regularly carry
out spot checks to ensure a retailer
hasn’t moved their outlet, along
with our point-of-sale materials, to
somewhere that we would consider
to be inappropriate.
Lower disposable incomes have led
to the growth in demand for single
cigarette sales, something we try to
discourage. In addition, where
children are the primary
breadwinners, they sometimes
support their families through petty
trading and can be found minding
retail outlets. Issues like these make
maintaining our marketing standards
and youth smoking prevention
initiatives a constant challenge, but
not one that we shy away from.
In my role, I’m constantly evaluating
any new activity and considering how
it will impact on our stakeholders.
I also work to engage the marketing
team in highlighting not only the
importance of maximising shareholder
value, but also doing this in a way
that is consistent with our standards
and principles.
In my view, our marketplace goal
is relevant to the environment
I work in and is something that
we must live up to.”
Tobacco Info
Tobacco is an annual or bi-annual growing 1-3 meters tall with large sticky leaves that contain nicotine. Native to the Americas, tobacco has a long history of use as a shamanic inebriant and stimulant. It is extremely popular and well-known for its addictive potential.
Nicotiana rustica leaves. Nicotiana rustica leaves have a nicotine content as high as 9%, whereas Nicotiana tabacum (common tobacco) leaves contain about 1 to 3%
A cigar is a tightly rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco which is ignited so that its smoke may be drawn into the mouth. Cigar tobacco is grown in significant quantities in Brazil, Cameroon, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Sumatra, Philippines, and the Eastern United States.
Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. It can be consumed, used as an organic pesticide, and in the form of nicotine tartrate it is used in some medicines. In consumption it may be in the form of cigarettes smoking, snuffing, chewing, dipping tobacco, or snus.
Cigarettes are smoking products consumed by people and made out of cut tobacco leaves. Cigars are typically composed completely of whole-leaf tobacco. A cigarette has smaller size, composed of processed leaf, and white paper wrapping. The term cigarette refers to a tobacco cigarette too but it can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cannabis.
