If no further policy action is taken, smoking prevalence is expected to increase by nearly 39 percent by 2030, the largest expected regional increase globally.

Twenty-six percent of the world's smokers — about 413 million people — will live in Africa by 2100, if current trends persist.

The African continent produces more than 700 000 tons of tobacco yearly, the three highest producers being Zimbabwe, Malawi and Tanzania

Although many African countries have policies regarding tobacco control, very few have programs to support smokers who wish to quit

Majority of smokers in Africa do not have accurate information on safer nicotine products

The Lancet World Report underlines that currently 90% of Africans are unprotected by smoke-free laws.

Governments in Malawi, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria own percentages of tobacco companies in their respective countries. Malawi's government owns 42%, Tunisia 100%, Algeria 49% and Egypt 61%

 Cigarette consumption in Africa increased by 52% between 1980 and 2016, or by 164 billion cigarettes to 250 billion cigarettes

Today, Africa is home to some highest ranked smoker countries on the planet, with Tunisia estimated at about 1,628 cigarettes per adult per year, or about 4.4 per day for each and every person over 18 years old. Egypt and Libya follow in second and third place respectively.

According to a Lancet survey, Mozambique has seen a 220% growth in cigarette consumption over the last 16 years. Lesotho has also seen a significant spike in tobacco smoking from 15% of its population in 2004 to 54% in 2015.