Integration and standardisation as well as the alignment of practice with objectives were key to developing a resilient and world-class Africa cannabis economy capable of meeting citizens’ health and other needs.
This was the consensus from a panel discussing the topic ‘The African Medical Cannabis Opportunity and how to catalyse movement to win’ at the recent Cheeba Cannabis Summit at Cannabis Expo 2026.
TUT Professor Dr David Katerere (pictured here) noted that the continent imported 70% of its medicinal needs and that incorporating cannabis could potentially address this disparity. “We need to reach out to medical professionals so they understand medical cannabis.
There’s not enough evidence generated in our pathologies,” said Dr Katerere who called for an African GMP [Good Manufacturing Practices certification]. If correctly leveraged, cannabis and hemp could potentially solve many everyday challenges the 200-million people in the SADC region faced, Dr Katere stated.
“It’s about collective African solidarity and how we position ourselves. As Africa, what are we doing? Are we cultivating to export and then re-import?” asked Botswana’s National Cannabis Control Authority (NCCA) CEO Thapelo Leareng.
Learang agreed: he encouraged African countries to unite in order to optimise its green economy through economies of scale. This would help avoid the historical anti-developmental cycle of exporting raw materials only to re-import them as higher-value processed goods. ,
Learang,the recently appointed chief regulator in Botswana was strong on the point that in developing an African cannabid model, indigenous knowledge practices had to be acknowledged.
“People making the decisions know that we have our own medicines. We are not harnessing indigenous knowledge for use in modern medicines.”
Countries also had to prioritise harmonisation in order to generate sustainable cannabis industries. “There’s a disconnect between the plant and what we want to achieve,” Lerreang said. He also noted that formalisation had resulted in the exclusion of many legacy growers and their labeling as “illicit growers” along with their produce and heritage. Botswana is among the manyAfrican governments facing calls to relax financial and other restrictions to allow for majority participation.
Leareng was also concerned imported seeds were being elevated at the expense of landrace strains. This posed the danger of impoverishing farmers who bought seed in US dollars.
“What are we doing to develop the seed and have it identified for its own characteristics?” he asked.
Both Leareng and CSIR research technologist Pollen Nkuna highlighted the importance of Africans investing in themselves. The continent had the capability to be self-sufficient as it could meet both its production and consumption needs, Leareng noted.
Cannabis governance strategist Marleen Theunissen of Harambe Solutions said it was sometimes important to improvise and use current infrastructure rather than investing in new technologies. The Port St John’s based compliance expert is overseeing Harambe ‘s Mpondoland Plug Project, which aims at empowering legacy growers who face enormous challenges, including operating outside of the law, lack of processing infrastructure and skills scarcity.
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