Across Nigeria, wines and spirits are familiar features of everyday social life, present at weddings, birthdays, naming ceremonies, business engagements, and weekend gatherings, and play a vital role in moments of connection, celebration, and shared experiences. This important role that spirits and wines play in our everyday social life is however threatened by increasing illicit trade in the sector.
This explains the rationale behind the move by the Spirits and Wines Association of Nigeria (SWAN) to sanitise the industry, because illicit trade in the spirits and wines industry is associated with economic crimes such as tax evasion, smuggling, counterfeit packaging, market distortions and revenue losses.
Made up of notable organisations including Bacardi, Brian Munro Limited, Diageo, Guinness Nigeria, Moët Hennessy, Nigerian Bottling Company, Nigerian Breweries, Pernod Ricard Nigeria and William Grants & Sons, SWAN believes that fragmented enforcement cannot defeat organised criminal networks, especially with the coordination of counterfeit syndicates observed over time. That is why the association organised the workshop, to bring all the key stakeholders around the table to explore ways to better tackle the menace.
