Are electronic cigarettes really good for smokers?- Sub-Saharan Africa

While more studies are awaited to confirm it, experts agree that the vapor puts smokers at the same risk as that associated with traditional tobacco.

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[DAKAR, LOME, NDJAMENA, YAoundE,] Constantin Danimbé has been using electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) for almost twenty years.A student of communication at the University of N'Djamena in Chad, he explains that it was curiosity that forced him to try this work and today, he replaces it with the old mountains.For him, e-cigarettes are effective, easy to hide and help him manage the stress of writing.

Like Constantine, Achta Mahamat, a young seller of a mobile phone shop in N'Djamena, is an e-cigarette enthusiast.He claims to be drawn to the fruity taste of flavored liquids and the practicality of the electronic device.

Electronic cigarettes, also known as vaping devices, are devices that heat liquid to create an aerosol that the user inhales, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

"Many African countries lack policies to regulate e-cigarettes, leaving young people vulnerable to misinformation and uncontrolled exposure"

Dewan Mohi, Alliance for Tobacco Control (ACTA)

E-cigarettes are developing in many African countries, they support non-governmental organizations (NGOs).In Senegal, it is common to find adults and even young people with their e-cigarettes on the streets of Dakar, in public places, and even on public transport.

"With the decline in cigarette use, the tobacco industry has worked hard to create new products. These are called emerging products. And their use is spreading," said Penda Camara Fall, president of the board of the Senegalese Anti-Tobacco League (LISTAB).

The latest WHO report on the evolution of smoking, published on October 6, 2025, shows a decrease in the number of smokers (regular cigarettes) in the world.

The proportion of adults consuming tobacco will increase from 26% in 2010 to 19.5% in 2023. On the other hand, the report is concerned about the increase in the number of e-cigarette users: more than 100 million people worldwide, including 86 million adults, are now using e-cigarettes.

The WHO estimates that the situation is "worst" among 13-15-year-olds, with nearly 15 million young people using e-cigarettes.

With regard to the African continent, due to a virtual absence of surveys of electronic cigarette use among both adults and youth, very little data is available on the extent of this phenomenon, the report states.

However, Penda Camara Fall points out that in Senegal "the average age of e-cigarette users in school is seven and a half years."

As evidence, Cheikh Fall, principal of a private high school in Dakar, explains that young high school students are more likely to come to the institution and even classrooms with e-cigarettes they share.

The source, who refused to age the young smokers, claimed that this was a "very worrying phenomenon" and complained: "In their backpacks, in loved ones, or even in shoes, they hide e-cigarettes and other tobacco products."

The rise of vaping among African youth is due to the aggressive tactics of the tobacco industry, said Deovan Mohi, a tobacco control expert and advisor to the Tobacco Control Alliance (ACTA), a network of civil society organizations (CSOs) and non-governmental organizations dedicated to tobacco prevention in Africa.

“These products are marketed as trendy, modern and much healthier than traditional cigarettes, despite their potential health risks and addictive properties,” he says.

The expert added that their different flavors (many aromas, comments the editor) and elegant design make them particularly influential without real supervision, he said.

For him, the cigarette industry uses popular methods: targeted advertising, attractive packaging, taste, and false scientific claims.

"It relies on influencers, digital campaigns and even secret partnerships to get into the spaces of youth and the media. In Africa, where the laws are sometimes less strict, these strategies are becoming more and more dangerous," he criticizes.

In the same line, Edem Kodjo Awoku, a lawyer, specialist in business management and collaborative administration and member of the Togo Health Leaders Circle Association (CLS), notes that social networks are being used to create covert advertisements for electronic cigarettes, "especially through young influencers" who create live videos.

In addition, the tobacco industry is competing to create smaller and smaller vapes, laments Stanislas Diédhiou, a pulmonologist on duty at the Saint-Louis Regional Hospital in Senegal."Today we have vapes that are less than 7 cm long. They are easy to transport and even easy to hide, and they are addictive," the expert believed.

This discreet aspect of vaping and the sweet aroma are the elements that attract many users.

Alexis Lekodo, a young smoker who left traditional cigarettes for electric, says: "We always want our cigarettes and also because I have children. So I didn't want to start them with this bad habit... And then when you smoke a classic cigarette, we know it's you.

almost no rules

According to Deowan Mohee, the tobacco industry is also using the lack of specific regulations for e-cigarettes to encourage the marketing of these products.

"Many African countries lack policies to regulate e-cigarettes, leaving young people vulnerable to misinformation and uncontrolled exposure," says this expert.

According to the latter, the tobacco industry exploits this gap, "positioning Africa as a growing market for these nicotine products. This is a deliberate targeting of our youth and a threat to the future of our continent," he condemns.

In Chad, for example, the 2010 anti-tobacco law establishes a general framework that covers all types of tobacco.The law, among other things, prohibits smoking in public places, placing health warning pictures on cigarette packs and imposes special taxes.

However, Ninoji Mibachro, coordinator of the National Tobacco, Alcohol and Drug Control Program at Chad's Ministry of Public Health, explained that the law does not contain any provisions regarding e-cigarettes.

However, he continues, "we will be able to talk about this specifically during the review of the law. But now, electronic cigarettes are included in the form of tobacco," he explains to SciDev.Net.

Ditto in Togo where various tobacco measures have been adopted, such as the Law of 31 December 2010 on the production, marketing and consumption of cigarettes and other tobacco products, focusing only on tobacco and its derivatives.

E-cigarettes are often presented as a less taxic alternative because they contain any tar or carbon monoxide, "but this does not mean that they are harmed," warns Mahamat Brohim Dahab, Secret Government of Carbon's Doctors' Association.

"Liquids contain chemicals such as formaldehyde or acrolein, which are known to irritate the respiratory tract. Nicotine, on the other hand, is highly addictive and disrupts the brain development of young people, and makes the act of smoking crazy," this source assures.

For Stanislas Diedhiou, although the risk of cancer associated with long-term use of e-cigarettes appears to be much lower compared to traditional cigarettes, it still exists and should not be ignored.

Opinion expressed by the president of the board of directors of LISTAB."The diseases caused by the new product are pneumonia, respiratory pathology, cardiovascular risk, cancer risk," Penda Camara Fall lists.

The oncologist and chief physician at the Dakar International Cancer Center (CICD), Abdelaziz Kassi, explains that the phenomenon of cancer is a long process that, according to him, can last up to 25 years.

« Tant que ces produits n’auront pas été étudiés pendant plus de 25 ans, sur plusieurs études, dans plusieurs endroits, sur plusieurs profils d’individus, il sera difficile de dire que ces nouveaux produits tabagiques ne sont pas cancérigènes », fait-il savoir.

The oncologist adds, "Electronic cigarettes don't burn tobacco. They convert the derivatives we put in the gel into water vapor."

Vapor is really different from smoke, "but this water vapor has other substances that have their own toxicity, including of course nicotine, but many other substances that are still dangerous, such as nitrosamines. Nitrosamines are known to be carcinogenic," he said.

"You understand that no form of consumption of tobacco or its derivatives is risk-free. When a substance contains tar, I say 'watch out'. When a substance does not contain tar, I say 'ugh', but I remain aware. Why? Because the electronic cigarette is a solution in which we put nicotine, polyethylene glycol, and which also contains nitrosamines," he says.

Nicotine addiction

Nenoji Mbairo also argues that the apparent modernity of e-cigarettes should not hide the health risks.

"Many young people think it's not just a cigarette because it's an electronic device. But nicotine addiction is real. We're seeing a new addiction emerge, more insidious, as it becomes more accepted in society," he said.

This argument is supported by N'takinave Kondoh, assistant professor of public health medicine and head of monitoring and evaluation of the National Psychoactive Addiction Program (PNAPP) in Togo.

According to him, nicotine contained in e-cigarettes "is a substance that creates rapid addiction, inhibits the brain development of young people and promotes the future consumption of traditional cigarettes and other psychotropic products."

"Chemicals in e-cigarettes perpetuate addiction, normalize smoking behavior and act as a gateway to traditional cigarettes, particularly for young people," recalls an ACTA consultant.

The chief medical officer of the Dakar International Cancer Center has revealed that he is seeing more and more young patients at his cancer center.

"ENT cancers are cancers in subjects who are 50-60 years old. Now we have met patients who are 30-35 years old. That is, they started smoking or were exposed to tobacco smoke for 10 to 15 years," he told SciDev.Net.

Despite warnings from health experts and anti-tobacco organizations about the dangers of vaping, studies still show that e-cigarettes help people quit smoking.

This is the case of a study on the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes in smoking cessation published by the British Cochrane Institute, a network of researchers and health professionals... whose mission is to produce accessible and reliable evidence and support their use to achieve better and fairer health for all.

The study, which was launched in 2014, is a compilation and analysis of many studies (90 in total) that were carried out on almost 30,000 smokers about the use of electronic mounts to quit smoking.

The latest version of the study, published in January 2025, found that "for people who smoke, nicotine e-cigarettes can help them quit smoking."Since the study began, the evidence showing the effectiveness of nicotine e-cigarettes as a way to quit smoking has increased significantly," said Nicola Lindson, co-author of the study, in an interview with SciDev.Net.

According to them, the researchers found strong evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes help more people quit smoking for at least six months than nicotine replacement products (which include nicotine patches, gum, lozenges and nasal sprays).

"This is important because we already have very clear evidence, collected over a long period of time, that nicotine replacement products are an effective aid in quitting smoking. Nicotine electronic cigarettes do not appear to be associated with serious short-term adverse effects," he claims.

"Further research is needed to evaluate the long-term use of e-cigarettes," the researcher noted.

Mahamat Brahim Dahab claims that the e-cigarette can indeed be a "cessation aid for smokers, but under medical supervision", he insists.

However, Nicola Lindson points out that smoking rates in sub-Saharan Africa vary widely from country to country and are very low in some regions.

He explained that when smoking rates are very low, the role of nicotine e-cigarettes is not clear unless there is evidence to show that smoking rates are increasing.

"Our study focuses mainly on people who use electronic cigarettes and nicotine to quit smoking. Therefore, our safety measures apply to people who have smoked. Our study cannot say anything about the safety of electronic cigarettes for people who have never smoked," he explains.

"Therefore, it should not be used to justify the existence and use of nicotine e-cigarettes in countries where smoking is not a problem," the researchers warned.

There is no doubt that Africa still has a relatively low smoking rate, which is exactly the preferred target for the tobacco industry, which is looking for new markets, replied Deowan Mohee.

"In the face of growing announcements of the harmful effects of traditional cigarettes, the industry is forced to reinvent itself. So it is opened called "innovative" products, all presented as "less harmful". But this concept of "less harmful" is deeply misleading, "says the expert.

He continues to say that "a small amount of poison is poisonous, the human body is not designed to absorb substances, even if it's small", he says, adding that electronic cigarettes cannot be a wonderful solution for quitting smoking."It can reinforce nicotine addiction and lead to continued consumption", he says.

This is why Achta Mahamat adopted the electronic cigarette to stop traditional tobacco.According to his testimony, he smokes less than before, but he admits that it is difficult to give up nicotine.

To combat e-cigarette use and prevent it from reaching alarming proportions on the continent, Dewan Mohy affirms that the best response is "strong legislation, strict regulation and strict enforcement".

"We recommend that African countries pass laws that outright ban electronic cigarettes or strictly regulate them in some other way. These products, although often marketed as less harmful, support nicotine addiction and serve as a gateway to traditional tobacco, especially among young people," he says.

The expert says that countries such as Uganda, Gambia, Mauritius and Senegal have taken steps to ban electronic cigarettes ... "This progress shows that political effort can be made and it pays off," he said.

In its report on the development of smoking in the world, WHO encourages States to regulate new nicotine-based products, such as electronic cigarettes.

In addition to regulations, Nenodji Mbaïro believes that we also need a change in mindset and the commitment of civil society to destroy the history of e-cigarettes as a harmless product.