The shortage of skills is one of the challenges facing the South African cannabis industry as it gears up to meet international standards and develop a domestic market.  These are not just in the increasingly-sophisticated cultivation sphere, but across the value chain from product development and processing to business and marketing.

Cheeba Africa is well-known for its cultivation and cannabis-related courses, having turned out over 1 600 graduates, some of whom are pioneering the industry. One such ‘alumni’ is Rob Hare, who has established Medical Cultivation Exporters of South Africa to assist growers with offtake agreements, is developing an indoor facility to EU standards in north-west Limpopo and has raised funds for a venture capital company.

Cheeba has now solidified its relationship with one of Africa’s leading business schools, the Gordon Institute of Business Science (Gibs) at the University of Pretoria, to offer a higher level of professional cannabis skill-sets than the market has seen to date.

The Cannabis and Hemp Business Mastery Programmeis a five week online course with a two-day “immersion” session at Cheeba’s Rivonia campus beginning in  mid-November 2024. The cost of the course is R16 700 per person.

Check out the cannabis short-course programme on the Gibs website here.

Cheeba Africa co-founder and director Trenton Birch says that as Africa’s regulatory approach to cannabis shifts towards legalization, the sector is becoming an attractive proposition for entrepreneurs, SMMEs, investors, health and wellness practitioners and agricultural specialists.

He says the course focuses on the ‘whole plant’ ecosystem and value chain aimed at developing entrepreneurial thinking and skills.

Gibs and Cheeba piloted the course last year and since then the “skills gap” in the industry has become more apparent as new players enter the market. One of these gaps is knowledge.

READ: 'Knowledge Gap' Holding Back Zimbabwe's Hemp Industry

“We believe the course addresses a serious skills gap within the business sector of the industry.  While there are many people who are interested in getting involved in cultivation and product development, the industry urgently needs investors, business strategists and entrepreneurs with business skills who can help drive the sector towards industrialisation” he told Cannabiz Africa.

What’s different about this course in relation to what Cheeba offers through its academy?

“This course is targeted  at business professionals who already have business knowledge and are looking to increase their sector knowledge. They may want to invest or start their own companies so this course highlights the opportunities, the challenges and there is a lot of focus on metrics and how people can ultimately make money out of the industry, replies Birch.

“The course will give attendees access to some of the sharpest and most experienced minds in the African cannabis and hemp Industry and also provide an international perspective on the global opportunity for African cannabis.

“Students will be exposed to the three verticals that make up the cannabis industry supply and value chain while developing entrepreneurial skills that can be honed to navigate this and other dynamic sunrise industries.”

He says the sector is well-placed to become a “seismic contributor” to taking on the economic challenges Africa faces and that for the cannabis industry to realize its full potential “seasoned business minds and professionals are needed.”

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