Public health advocates from across Africa, 2026, have converged in Lagos for the third edition of the Africa Centre for Tobacco Industry Monitoring and Policy Research, ATIM, Tobacco Industry Monitoring, TIM training course, aimed at strengthening Africa’s capacity to monitor, expose and counter tobacco industry interference in public health policy.
The five-day event, being held in Nigeria for the first time, brings together carefully selected participants from 12 countries: Kenya, Nigeria, Benin, Botswana, South Africa, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Uganda, Zambia, Senegal and Zimbabwe.
Led by an internationally renowned tobacco control expert, Professor Lekan Ayo-Yusuf, the team of facilitators at the training includes lecturers from the University of Bath in England, as well as policy advocates and researchers from the United States, Nigeria, Brazil, and Togo.
Ayo-Yusuf, who is Head of the School of Health Systems and Public Health at the University of Pretoria and Director of ATIM, welcomed participants to the training and highlighted studies showing that tobacco industry interference in public policy and public health remains a continent-wide challenge, contributing to preventable deaths and undermining effective tobacco control.
He explained that the course is designed to fortify the continent’s response to the problem, by moving advocates from reacting to tobacco industry interference to proactively anticipating, monitoring and countering it through evidence-based action.
“The course is intended to strengthen the capacity of tobacco control advocates to effectively monitor and counteract tobacco industry interference in public health policies in Africa, it is also intended to help advocates better understand the tobacco industry and help them hold it to account – which is crucial to further progress in tobacco control,”Ayo-Yusuf said.
He expressed confidence that at the end of the training, advocates would be better equipped to identify and document tobacco industry interference, analyse emerging industry tactics, search and interpret industry documents, identify front groups and third-party allies, and generate evidence to support effective policy advocacy.”
“They will also be able to draft effective tobacco control policies and implementation and draft effective and efficient advocacy strategies for their organisations or countries,” Ayo-Yusuf added.
One of the facilitators and Executive Director of Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, Akinbode Oluwafemi, warned that the tobacco industry had “continued to reinvent itself”, hence the need to groom a new generation of advocates to continue the fight for public health.
“Some of us have been in tobacco control advocacy for close to three decades and we recognise the need to build the next generation of advocates.
“Among the participants, you’ll find government officials, civil society organisations, public health advocates, economists, among others. ATIM is building their capacity to take the baton to the next level, Oluwafemi said.”
He said the need for such capacity-building had become even more urgent as the industry increasingly promotes “a false narrative of harm reduction.”
“It is necessary to be able to ensure that advocates get updates about how the industry continues to spread misleading narratives get our youths and children addicted and how government should enforce the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, WHO FCTC, and the national laws as appropriate,” Oluwafemi added.
Participants commended ATIM for organising the course.
“We are here in Lagos, Nigeria participating in the ATIM course and, so far, their training has been perfect,” said Jackline Mbone Juma, a youth tobacco control advocate for the Kenya Tobacco Control Alliance and Health Promotion.
“We’ve learnt a lot. We’ve been able to gain hands-on skills on how to conduct industry monitoring and how we can also research, and access tobacco industry documents. Additionally, we’ve been able to understand and reflect on the WHO FCTC.”
Emmanuel Onwuka, a journalist and Communications Officer at the Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, NTCA, highlighted the training’s relevance, particularly as the tobacco industry develops new products and marketing strategies targeting young people.
“The ATIM Building Capacity in Industry Monitoring for Effective Tobacco Control Advocacy in Africa (BETA 3.0) training has come at a crucial time, especially as the tobacco industry continues to develop new tactics and increasingly targets young people.
“Through the training, I am gaining valuable knowledge about tobacco use trends and the tobacco industry’s agenda across Africa. I am confident that by the end of the programme, I will be better equipped with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively monitor, document, and report on tobacco industry interference,”Onwuka said.
Based at the University of Pretoria, ATIM is a specialised African centre for tobacco industry monitoring, intelligence and policy research based at the University of Pretoria. It tracks tobacco industry activities and interference across Africa while supporting research, policy protection and capacity building in line with the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
The TIM course, delivered in English and French, is open to tobacco control advocates, researchers, academics, journalists and government policymakers across Africa.
