The  year  2008‐2009  marked  the  first  year  of  existence  of  the  Africa  Tobacco  Control  Regional  Initiative  (ATCRI).  Successfully  established  in  September  2008  with  funding  support  from  a  three‐year  seed  grant  totalling  $500,000  from  the  American  Cancer  Society  and  Cancer  Research  UK  ‐  the  world's  two  largest  cancer  charities,  the  Initiative  is  being  hosted  by  the  Environmental  Rights  Action/Friends  of  the  Earth  Nigeria  (ERA/FoEN).

In  a  continent  that  has  never  witnessed  such  an  initiative  in  tobacco  control,  the  idea  of  establishing  an  Africa  Tobacco  Control  Regional  Initiative  (ATCRI)  is  to  Africa,  both  novel  and  monumental.  In  the  light  of  the  continent's  linguistic