• Fiscal Gains, Health Shortfalls: Zimbabwe’s sugar tax (Feb 2024) and fast-food levy (Jan 2025) raised US$38M and US$954,912 by June 2025
• Un-reinvested funds limit NCD prevention despite 5–8% urban sugary drink sales drop
• Economic Strain: Delta (Over US$4 M Q1 2025 tax) and Simbisa face margin pressures, with 20–30% price hikes pushing low-income consumers to untaxed informal markets
• Informal trade (64% GDP) evades taxes, and 62% of urbanites are unaware of health goals due to poor campaigns

Harare- Zimbabwe’s sin taxes on sugary beverages and fast foods represent a fiscal push amid economic pressures, targeting public health crises like obesity and non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which cause 40% of deaths in the country according to WHO data. The sugar tax, enacted in February 2024 through Statutory Instrument 16 of 2024 at an initial rate of US$0.002 per gram of sugar in beverages (later adjusted to US$0.001 for ready-to-drink items and US$0.0005 for cordials), has garnered over US$30 million since its launch, with Delta Corporation alone paying US$4.5 million in the first quarter of 2025 under its sparkling beverages segment and an additional US$2.2 million for Schweppes, contributing to a total sugar tax expense of US$6.7 million in Q1 FY2026. Delta paid US$21.1 million in sugar tax for its fiscal year 2025 (ended March 31, 2025). The company absorbed much of the cost to maintain demand, leading to squeezed margins despite 5% revenue growth to US$807.4 million.

Complementing this, the 0.5% levy on fast-food items such as pizzas, burgers, fries, and doughnuts took effect in January 2025, primarily targeting major chains like Simbisa Brands (operating Chicken Inn, Pizza Inn, and Nando’s with 339 stores), KFC, and similar outlets, and generated US$954,912 in its first six months (January to June 2025), as verified by Deputy Minister of Finance Kudakwashe Mnangagwa in Parliament. While these collections reflect the taxes' revenue potential in a nation where informal trade evades US$1.8 billion annually, their public health impact remains tentative, hampered by incomplete delivery on health commitments, regressive price effects, and a lack of strategic reinvestment compared to international peers.

The core intent of these sin taxes is to deter consumption of NCD-linked products, vital in Zimbabwe where adult obesity affects 15.5% and diabetes prevalence tops 7%, per 2023 WHO estimates, amid a healthcare system strained by just 1.7 beds per 1,000 people. ZimStat data indicates a 5–8% decline in urban sugary drink sales by June 2025 since the sugar tax's launch, with some consumers opting for untaxed water or local juices, potentially averting 2–3% of daily sugar intake in formal markets.

The fast-food levy, though nascent, may similarly curb impulse buys at chains like Simbisa and KFC, where burgers and fries dominate menus; early anecdotal reports from Harare outlets suggest a 3–5% dip in high-sugar item orders, aligning with global patterns where taxes raise awareness and prompt substitutions.

However, enforcement gaps limit broader effects: informal vendors, comprising 64% of GDP, sell untaxed equivalents cheaply, diluting urban gains in rural areas where NCD access is poorest. The sugar tax's post-launch adjustment weakened its bite, price hikes like a 500ml Coke rising from US$0.50 to US$0.65 equate to just 10–15% increases, far below South Africa's 20–30% post-2018 levy. Without aggressive education campaigns, a 2025 Health Professionals Association survey revealed 62% of urbanites were unaware of the taxes' health aims, stalling sustained behavioural change.

Since the sugar tax's February 2024 launch, collections have escalated to US$38 million by June 2025, explicitly earmarked for cancer machines, drugs, and obesity programs at facilities like Parirenyatwa and Mpilo Hospitals, where only six radiotherapy units serve 16 million people. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube allocated US$18 million by September 2024, yet as of September 15, 2025, 19 months post-launch, no new machines have been installed, per hospital reports and independent queries.

The fast-food levy's US$954,912 from its first six months is slated for anti-obesity efforts, but no community programs or dietary initiatives have materialised, with funds seemingly absorbed into general budgets.

The Procurement Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (PRAZ) has fast-tracked tenders, but opacity persists: no public audits exist, prompting the Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights to demand Freedom of Information Act disclosures amid fears of diversion, echoing past toll fee scandals.

This shortfall erodes the taxes' health rationale; while Mexico's 2014 SSB tax (1 peso/litre) yielded MXN16.1 billion (US$1 billion) in its first year and funded school water infrastructure by 2015 reducing child obesity by 7% in targeted areas, Zimbabwe's post-launch period shows no comparable health infrastructure gains, risking prolonged NCD burdens.

The taxes' fiscal success since launch burdens formal players, indirectly harming public health equity. Delta's US$4.5 million Q1 2025 sugar tax payment  drove 20–30% price rises on soft drinks, pricing out low-income families and shifting demand to unregulated informal sugars, potentially worsening malnutrition. Simbisa Brands, hit by the fast-food levy alongside KFC, reports 4% revenue growth to US$110.89 million in H1 FY2025 but anticipates margin squeezes from the 0.5% on sales, leading to subtle menu tweaks like smaller portions—yet without subsidies, this raises fast-food costs for urban poor, who rely on affordable outlets.

Dairibord's US$100,000–US$300,000 monthly contributions inflate flavoured milk prices, a protein source for many, while Triangle Limited's 1,000 job cuts by August 2025 in sugar regions exacerbate food insecurity, linking to higher NCD risks.

Unlike the UK's 2018 Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL, £0.18–£0.24/litre tiered by sugar), which removed over 45,000 tonnes of sugar annually by 2020 through reformulation and raised £336 million in 2019–2020 for school sports boosting youth activity and cutting obesity in deprived girls by up to 10%, Zimbabwe's taxes since launch offer no incentives, amplifying regressivity without health offsets.

International sin taxes demonstrate stronger health impacts when revenues are transparently reinvested post-implementation. Mexico's 2014 SSB tax collected MXN16.1 billion in year one (2014), scaling to MXN20+ billion annually by 2017, with funds (though not ring-fenced) supporting water access in 10,000+ schools by 2016 correlating to 10–35% purchase drops, especially in low-income areas, and a 7% child obesity decline by 2018. The UK's SDIL, from April 2018, garnered £300+ million yearly by 2019–2020, explicitly funding sports facilities for 1.7 million pupils by 2020, driving a 46% sugar reduction in drinks by 2020 and sustained 10% consumption falls.

South Africa's 2018 Health Promotion Levy (HPL, 2.21 cents/gram over 4g/100ml, ~10% effective rate) raised ZAR1.7 billion in 2018–2019, with portions reinvested in community nutrition by 2020 yielding 7–15% SSB sales reductions and no job losses, per studies up to 2021. These timelines highlight proactive spending: Mexico's early infrastructure (year 1–2), UK's youth programs (year 2–3), and South Africa's equity focus (year 2+). Zimbabwe, 19 months into sugar tax and nine into fast-food levy, lags with no visible reinvestments, forfeiting potential NCD reductions estimated at 5–10% with targeted funds.

To bridge collections and responsibility since launch, Zimbabwe should earmark 20–30% of sugar tax proceeds (US$7–10 million yearly) for a health fund supporting low-sugar startups, creating jobs and healthier options. Fast-food levy revenues could finance school nutrition or awareness drives, akin to UK's model. Incentives like VAT rebates for reformulated products would aid Delta and Simbisa, preserving access while cutting sugar. Mandatory audits and civil society monitoring, as in Mexico, would ensure delivery. Public campaigns could clarify health links, amplifying the 5–8% consumption dips.

Therefore, since their launches the sugar tax in February 2024 garnering over US$30 million and the fast-food levy US$954,912 in H1 2025, Zimbabwe's sin taxes show nascent public health promise through modest consumption shifts. Yet, undelivered infrastructure, opaque spending, and unmitigated burdens on firms like Delta (US$4.5 million Q1 payment) and Simbisa, KFC undermine equity. In a revenue-desperate context, true responsibility demands reinvestment timelines that prioritize health over coffers, potentially averting NCD surges and fostering sustainable gains.

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