This report first published in the September 2026 edition of Soft Secrets
The first decade of African cannabis legalization in, beginning with Lesotho in 2017, has been an exercise in colonialism. In short, African policy-makers bought into international medical cannabis frameworks designed around European standards.
First phase of African legalization favoured multinationals servicing Europe
The policies developed by all 11 African states that have partially legalized cannabis are, without exception, designed to favour multinationals seeking cheap biomass for the lucrative medical cannabis markets of the Global North.
With the exception of Morocco, which has designed its cannabis policy around licensing legacy farmers and building an industry around its famed Beldiya landrace, African governments have chosen export markets over developing domestic cannabis economies. Besides South Africa, no other African government intends legalizing general adult-use consumption any time soon.
The reality is that illicit cannabis markets thrive in every African country, and have been doing so for generations. According to the World Drug Report 2026, roughly 5% of African adults consume cannabis regularly and the figure is rising faster than in any other region in the world. But most African countries see cannabis as a narcotic and are engaged in a relentless war against drugs.
What has complicated the situation is the explosion of synthetic drugs across Africa. Various pharmaceutical drugs, mostly opioid-based, are mixed with cannabis to create short, intense highs, and have become alarmingly popular among the youth, particularly in West Africa.
Against this backdrop, it’s easy to see why African governments are reluctant to drop cannabis prohibition. However, as the health and medical benefits of cannabis become increasingly clear through scientific research, there is a change in mindset emerging.
New generation of policy makers looking at intregrating cannabis into public health systems
Simply put, a new generation of scientists, policy-makers and regulators in countries that have legalized cannabis, are asking: “if there are proven health and medical benefits in cannabis, why are we not using this in our own health care systems?”
One of the most prominent influential thinkers behind this new wave is Professor David Kuterere, the head of cannabis research at South Africa’s Tshwane University of Technology and chairman of PharmaConnect.
Prof Kuterere seeks a radical departure from the status quo, calling for regional collaboration to develop a uniquely African medical cannabis model. He says plant medicine should be defined as its own category, and for the rich genetics found in indigenous landraces to be the foundation of a new Afro-pharma sector.
His argument can be summed up as such: the study of plant medicine in Africa is rooted in indigenous knowledge systems (IKS) that are hundreds of years old. Cannabis, which has been used in the treatment of pain and for other ailments for centuries, is but one of hundreds of indiginous plants that have medical value. The study and practice of medical cannabis should therefore be integrated with research and development of other Afrobotanicals that have proven medical benefits, for instance skeletium and artemisa. Part of the new ‘whole plant’ approach is to use indigenous landraces for industrial cannabis and drop the traditional barriers between medical cannabis and hemp.
Zambia leading the way
Prof Katerere’s philosophy has found enthusiastic support among a new generation of policy-makers, spearheaded by Dr Prosper Sievu, a leading cannabis consultant in Africa and one of the regulators on Zambia’s newly formed Medicines Control Council.
Zambia legalized the cultivation and export of medical cannabis in 2021, but has struggled to establish an export industry, so it’s put its focus on developing a domestic market. The Zambian Defence Force, which was temporarily in charge of cannabis regulation, has made 134 000 ha available for hemp cultivation and has secured the backing of traditional leaders for small-scale farmers to cultivate cannabis for industrial and medical purposes.
Dr Sievu says Zambia intends running its own clinical trials that would form the basis of a new-look public healthcare system with a focus on plant medicine. He believes Zambian doctors should be trained in the endo-cannabinoid system and be able to prescribe flower to patients.
Dr Sievu’s appointment and the reconfiguration of cannabis oversight in Zambia, has been echoed in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi. All are shifting their focus away from exporting raw flower and want to process biomass to create value-added products for both local markets and export.
Although Africa’s cannabis licensing regimes have a long way to go before the health benefits of cannabis can be enjoyed by Africans, 2026 may be seen as the year in which a new generation of African thought-leaders are beginning to stir the pot of a uniquely African cannabis medical model in the making.
#
