Africa’s Gen Z Is Still Drinking. But a New Drug Economy Is Emerging Around Them

Accra, Ghana — In much of the Western world, researchers have spent the past decade documenting a striking generational shift: teenagers and young adults are drinking far less alcohol than previous generations. In the United States and parts of Europe, alcohol consumption among Gen Z has fallen sharply, reshaping public health debates and even forcing global alcohol companies to rethink their strategies.

Across Africa, however, the story is unfolding differently.

Available evidence suggests that alcohol consumption among African youth has not experienced the same dramatic decline. Surveys across the continent indicate that a significant proportion of adolescents continue to drink, often at levels comparable to earlier decades. In parts of West Africa, around one in six students report drinking alcohol within the past month, according to analyses based on the World Health Organization’s Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS). The figures vary widely between countries, but the broader picture points to persistence rather than decline.

In Ghana, alcohol remains deeply embedded in social life. Traditional drinks such as palm wine and locally distilled spirits are widely available, and commercial alcohol is sold in shops, bars, and informal kiosks across both urban and rural communities. Enforcement of age restrictions is inconsistent, allowing many teenagers to access alcohol long before reaching legal drinking age.

The persistence of youth drinking is particularly notable because it is occurring at the same time that Africa’s broader drug economy is undergoing rapid transformation.

Over the past decade, several African governments have begun loosening restrictions on cannabis cultivation, largely in pursuit of economic opportunity. Lesotho became the first African country to license medical cannabis production in 2017. Zimbabwe followed a year later with legislation permitting cultivation for medical and research purposes. More recently, Malawi legalized cannabis cultivation for export, and Ghana has established a regulatory framework allowing licensed production of low-THC cannabis for industrial and medical applications.

For policymakers, cannabis has increasingly been framed not as a social problem but as an agricultural commodity with export potential. Governments in multiple countries have promoted the crop as a possible replacement for declining tobacco markets or as a new source of foreign exchange in the global pharmaceutical and wellness industries.

These policy shifts are reshaping how cannabis is perceived across the continent. Even in countries where recreational use remains illegal, the visibility of legal cannabis farms, government licensing programs, and foreign investment has begun normalizing discussions about the plant.

Yet cannabis policy is only one dimension of a much broader transformation.

Across West and Central Africa, drug trafficking networks are expanding their operations as global criminal markets evolve. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime has repeatedly warned that the region has become an increasingly important corridor for international drug flows. Cocaine shipments moving from Latin America toward Europe frequently pass through West African ports and coastal states, while synthetic opioids and pharmaceutical drugs are circulating more widely across local markets.

One of the most visible examples is the growing abuse of tramadol and codeine-based medicines across several West African countries. Originally intended for medical use, these drugs are often sold illegally in high doses through informal markets. Regional seizure data compiled by international agencies show that Africa accounts for a large share of global confiscations of pharmaceutical opioids, suggesting a rapidly expanding supply.

At the same time, new synthetic drugs are appearing in local markets with alarming speed. In recent years, a substance known as “kush” has spread across parts of West Africa, particularly in Sierra Leone and neighboring countries. The drug—often a mixture of synthetic cannabinoids and opioids—has been linked to severe health complications and a rising number of hospitalizations.

Authorities in Sierra Leone have declared a public health emergency in response to the outbreak, highlighting how quickly unregulated drug markets can overwhelm fragile health systems.

For African youth, these shifts are occurring within a complex social landscape. Alcohol remains the most widely used psychoactive substance among teenagers, according to available surveys. Cannabis use among adolescents is generally lower, while data on other drugs remain sparse. However, the rapid expansion of drug markets—both legal and illicit—means that exposure to new substances is increasing.

A key challenge for policymakers is that reliable data on youth drug use across Africa remain limited. Most available statistics come from school-based surveys that do not capture out-of-school youth, who may face higher exposure to substance use. National household surveys that track drug consumption among young adults are rare, and systematic monitoring of overdoses or treatment demand is almost nonexistent in many countries.

As a result, changes in Africa’s drug landscape are often detected first through police seizures, hospital admissions, or media reports rather than through comprehensive public health surveillance.

This gap creates a dangerous blind spot.

While youth alcohol consumption in Africa appears relatively stable, the broader environment in which young people are coming of age is shifting rapidly. Legal cannabis industries are emerging in multiple countries. Synthetic drugs are spreading through unregulated markets. International trafficking networks are expanding their presence across key transit corridors.

Taken together, these developments suggest that Africa may be entering a new phase in its relationship with psychoactive substances.

Unlike the United States, where Gen Z is abandoning alcohol amid a complex drug landscape, African youth appear to be navigating a world where alcohol remains common while new drug markets are expanding around them.

For governments across the continent, the challenge will be ensuring that public health systems, regulatory frameworks, and youth protection policies evolve quickly enough to keep pace with these changes.

Without stronger data, enforcement, and prevention strategies, Africa risks confronting a growing drug economy without fully understanding how it is reshaping the lives of the continent’s next generation.

Sources: WHO Global School-based Student Health Survey (GSHS); UNODC World Drug Report 2025; regional studies on youth substance use in Sub-Saharan Africa; national policy documents on cannabis regulation in Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Ghana.