BAT Kenya will import nicotine pouches should it get approval from the government to sell the products, with the decision coming after the company sold machinery earlier intended to produce the products locally.
The firm's managing director Crispin Achola told Business Daily that the modern oral nicotine machinery was sold to an undisclosed buyer in the year ended December 2024 for an unspecified sum.
The equipment had remained dormant for close to five years after the government suspended the marketing, sale and consumption of nicotine pouches, which are billed as less harmful compared to cigarettes.
"We have successfully concluded the transaction of divesting from the plant. When we do come back to the market with the modern oral nicotine pouches, we will come back with an import model," said Mr Achola.
"I think the reality is that if you look at the plant, we were close to firing it up. So, we have never produced nicotine pouches in Kenya. We are going back to the model that we were using [in 2023] when we are back to the market," added Mr Achola.
BAT did not disclose the amount it raised from sale of the factory equipment, but the value of its non-current assets dropped by Sh1.7 billion to Sh10 billion in the year to December 2024.
Tobacco firms around the world are betting on the cigarette alternatives to reach new customers, with the uptake of the chewable and inhalable products growing faster than cigarette sticks.
Mr Achola said he was optimistic that the government would come up with a regulatory framework that allows the sale, marketing and consumption of alternative tobacco products.
"I don't see a doomsday scenario of this not happening," Mr Achola said.
BAT in 2019 introduced pouches, then branded Lyft, as it sought to diversify away from combustible cigarettes.
The firm, however, stopped marketing the product a year later after the government said it should be regulated as a tobacco product.
BAT re-introduced the commodity —rebranded to Velo— in 2022 on a trial basis. Since then, BAT has been engaging the government to recognise the science behind modern oral nicotine pouches, which it refers to as "scientifically substantiated, reduced-risk alternatives" to tobacco cigarettes.
Mr Achola said he is optimistic that, over time, the government would create a win-win regulatory framework.
"The reason I am optimistic is because we have seen progress. If you look at labelling, the government has issued new labelling requirements that also now covers alternative tobacco products. So, that is a step in the right direction in terms of having differentiated labelling for the categories," he said.
Mr Achola says that the government also needs to review the Tobacco Control Act to ensure its comprehensiveness and inclusion.
Tobacco manufacturers insist that, save for the addiction of nicotine, smokeless cigarettes are less harmful.
Kenya has not yet developed specific regulations for non-combusted products. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) agrees that non-combusted products are less harmful than conventional burn cigarettes, but insists they are not without risks.
