Zanzibar, a destination of choice for a lot of Europeans, has been hit by a serious alcohol shortage in recent weeks.
Renowned for its dream beaches and rich cultural heritage, the island of Zanzibar, a jewel of African tourism, is facing what some local media are calling an “alcohol crisis.”
Beer and spirits are in such short supply that some bars have started serving only non-alcoholic drinks. Many people are already worried that this phenomenon could threaten the archipelago’s flourishing tourism industry.
Local production of alcohol is banned in Zanzibar, whose population of 1.3 million is mainly Muslim. The alcohol sold on the island comes from mainland Tanzania, or from various exporting countries such as South Africa.
The shortage began in early January when the Zanzibar Liquor Control Board (ZLCB), the regulatory body for alcohol sales run by the island’s semi-autonomous government, made changes by issuing import licenses to new agents, leaving behind the old importers: Scotch Store Ltd, One-stop and ZMMI (Zanzibar Maritime and Mercantile International Company Ltd), which had been supplying the island for more than twenty years.
While it is not clear why the licenses of these companies have not been renewed, the three new companies that have been granted licenses to export alcohol — Kifaru, Bevko, and Zanzi Imports — are struggling to meet demand.
The conditions for obtaining a licence are fairly restrictive in Zanzibar: alcohol importers must be residents born on the island, have a clean criminal record, have a warehouse, a delivery vehicle and pay an annual tax of 12,000 dollars to the regulatory body.
A long approval process
According to the local media, the new importing companies were bogged down in a lengthy approval process, mainly due to the fact that some non-residents were involved in the companies’ operations. The situation became even more complicated after the three former license holders lodged appeals, asking the government to renew their alcohol import permits.
The problems threatening the sector have already led to the departure of the island’s tourism minister, Simai Mohammed Said, whose resignation was announced by President Hussein Mwinyi in a press release on 26 January.
The minister, who explained his resignation by “poor working conditions,” had said at a press conference held shortly before his resignation that “the hotel industry was weakened by poor planning, which led to a shortage of alcohol.”
“If we fail to plan and have sufficient stocks of alcoholic beverages, we will frustrate our visitors,” he added. He also accused the Zanzibar Liquor Control Board of granting licenses to newcomers at the expense of old importers.
When the new Minister of Tourism was sworn in last week, the president of the government of Zanzibar, Hussein Mwinyi, suggested that Mr. Said should have been more honest when announcing his resignation by explaining the real reasons for his decision, which he claimed was based on a “conflict of interest.” Some local media are reporting links between the former tourism minister and some of the managers of the former alcohol import agencies.
A 100% rise in the price of beer
The disruption to the alcohol supply chain caused the price of beer to rise by almost 100%, from 2,500 Tanzanian shillings (just under one euro) to 5,000 Tanzanian shillings (just under two euros). Some Tanzanian beer brands, such as Safari and Kilimanjaro, are completely out of reach for customers.
“We’ve been running out of beer for several days,” explains the owner of a hotel in Paje, a seaside resort in the east of the island, interviewed by Newsendip. “It’s high season and a large part of our turnover depends on alcohol sales. The island is just recovering from the shortage of visitors caused by the Covid-19 crisis. We can’t afford to lose any tourists and hope that the situation will be solved very soon.”
Tourism contributes to 27% of Zanzibar’s gross domestic product and provides around 60,000 jobs. With the COVID-19 crisis, the island’s GDP growth slowed to around 1.3% in 2020, due to a drop in tourism activity. The accommodation and catering sub-sector had been hardest hit, with a 13% drop in revenues, and urban poverty had increased by almost 2 percentage points in 2020, according to recent World Bank data.
The Tanzanian island, once on the spice trade route, had bounced back, however, recording a remarkable 16.4% increase in the number of international visitors in 2023, with a record number of 638,498 tourists over the year, according to figures from Zanzibar’s statistics office.
Last week, a promotional partnership between the Zanzibar government and the famous English Premier League club, Chelsea FC, was announced with fanfare by President Mwinyi.
The primary aim of the partnership, which is reminiscent of the collaboration between Rwanda’s tourist board and English club Arsenal, is mainly to boost tourism on the island. It will also provide development opportunities for local young people through football academies.
A year after the signing of the contract between Arsenal and “Visit Rwanda,” the former head of Rwanda’s tourism office, Belise Kariza, declared that the profits accrued were estimated at nearly 36 million pounds (45 million dollars). Let’s hope that the alcohol will be back on the shelves before the British tourists arrive…
