West Africa experienced the spread of distillation in a way that is linked to the distribution of its major religions. Alongside adherents to African traditional religions, the population is split between Christianity and Islam. The area that includes Senegal, Mali, Niger, and the northern parts of Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Cameroon is predominantly Islamic, and the areas to the south, including parts of Sierra Leone, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and Cameroon, are largely Christian. Alcohol consumption is significantly higher in the Christian (and African traditional) sectors, and this is also where most distilleries are located. West African distilleries mainly produce local versions of brandy, rum, gin, and bitters by flavoring industrially distilled neutral spirits. These drinks are safe to consume but are not interesting for drinks connoisseurs attracted to artisanal processes and subtle and different flavors.
The technology of distilling was first introduced in West Africa around 1800 by a Danish colonialist who briefly produced liquor on a plantation in the Volta Region of Ghana, but at that time this knowledge did not spread, and Africans made no subsequent attempts at it. In the absence of local distillation West Africans consumed imported liquor: rum, brandy, and gin made up a large proportion of West Africa’s maritime trade from the sixteenth century until well into the twentieth century (first as part of the slave trade, later as part of the trade in agricultural produce). See
In the early 1880s, a Jamaican entrepreneur made another attempt at founding a distillery in West Africa, but that too soon closed. In Nigeria, during the first decade of the twentieth century, a profitable liquor industry emerged compounding spirits on the basis of imported alcohol of high strength but was closed down through colonial legislation in 1909. Shortly thereafter, a cottage industry of home distillation emerged in several parts of coastal West Africa but was quickly outlawed by colonial administrations that depended on taxes on imported spirits to cover colonial expenses. During the 1930s, illegal home distillation of akpeteshie spread rapidly and greatly reduced the foreign imports. Akpeteshie, made from palm wine, and other home-distilled “local gin” largely replaced foreign imports and in some instances became symbols of colonial resistance. They continue to be widely produced and consumed, and liquor imports into West Africa have never returned to their pre-1930s levels.
The first distilleries in West Africa that produced drinks on an industrial scale that were safe to consume and sold through commercial distribution networks were established around the time that West African countries achieved independence, during the 1950s and 1960s. African governments encouraged local distilling industries as part of development policies based on industrialization to create local substitutes for imported goods. This usually involved technical assistance (at a fee) from an established European company in the design of the distillery, bottling plant, and production processes. The drinks thus produced were similar to those previously imported but could be offered at a lower price. The names and packaging were (and continue to be) designed to resemble the familiar, previously imported European brands. Ghana’s GIHOC distillery, for example, has been making Castle Bridge London dry gin, Buccaneer rum, and Chevalier brandy, each in bottles of a shape and color commonly associated with these popular brands, and with labels to match. See London dry gin. One recent marketing innovation concerns the packaging: alongside the existing bottles, distilleries have introduced little sachets containing a single serving of gin, thus placing the purchase of distilled drinks within the reach of those with very small incomes (though this market is also served by home-distilled akpeteshie). These sachets have become enormously popular, in the process creating serious sustainability and environmental issues.
An increasingly popular drink is the herbal bitter, which usually has a name with an African association (such as Mandingo bitters) and is said to have medicinal properties that, among other things, cleanse the system and improve sexual performance. Meanwhile, the category of schnapps gin is associated with its use in African traditions such as the pouring of libation, weddings, outdoorings, and funerals, the payment of shrine priests, and as a customary gift to traditional leaders. In Nigeria, Seaman’s Schnapps is marketed as “the original prayer drink.” A billboard campaign showing Nigerians from diverse ethnic groups praying with schnapps refers to the unity-in-diversity theme with the slogan “Many Prayers, One Drink,” thereby ignoring the large Muslim part of the population. At the same time, the widespread presence of Islam and the rise of born-again Christianity challenge the consumption of distilled liquors in West Africa.
See also akpeteshie and home distilling.
Akyeampong, Emmanuel. Drink, Power, and Cultural Change. A Social History of Alcohol in Ghana, c. 1800 to Recent Times. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 1996.
Heap, Simon. “Before ‘Star’: The Import Substitution of Western-Style Alcohol in Nigeria, 1870–1970.” African Economic History 24 (1996): 69–89.
Van den Bersselaar, Dmitri. The King of Drinks: Schnapps Gin from Modernity to Tradition. Leiden: Brill, 2007.
By: Dmitri van den Bersselaar