Although Lesotho legalized cannabis exports in 2018, Africa has been a slow starter in joining the ranks of those countries pushing for reform and regulated markets. Although fewer than a quarter of the continent’s countries have partially legalized cannabis, primarily medical cannabis for export and industrial hemp, Africa has the potential to be a future powerhouse on the international cannabis stage. Stay in the loop with all the news, policy, legislative, regulatory and market developments with Cannabiz Africa, your reliable content guide to the African cannabis environment.
Rwanda aims to be East Africa’s ‘Big Pharma’ cannabis hub, but its strategy locks out locals and benefits elites.
Africa has all been left behind by the medical cannabis revolution sweeping the world. However, there are signs that this could be changing as a new generation of policy makers led by Zambia’s Dr Prosper Sievu, are questioning why Africa is not harnessing the benefits of cannabis for its own people.
Namibian cannabis activists are most likely to achieve their drive for legalization through the courts rather than trying to persuade government policy-makers. That’s the advice from SA Dagga Party founder and long-standing cannabis activist, Jeremy Acton to his counterparts across the Kalahari border.
Legalization and economic justice is becoming the major issue in cannabis reform across Africa. This was highlighted at Ghana’s Critical Cannabis Moment workshop held recently in Accra, at which FGFA was invited to participate. Here’s CEO Myrtle Clarke’s feedback.
Morocco’s ‘Mpondoland’ is the Rif Valley in the north where cannabis has been grown for centuries. Although the Kingdom has put Rif farmers at the centre of its cannabis reforms, only a select few have been granted cultivation licenses and the majority of farmers remain criminalized and locked outside the system.
Batswana Cabinet Minister, Tiroyaone Ntsima says Angola’s business community should consider investing in Botswana’s new industrial and medicinal cannabis sector. Even though cannabis is illegal in Angola, Ntsima said Angolan investment in Botswana cannabis would enjoy the same protection rights as in any other market.
Ghanaian traditional healer Dr Christiana Torvor has called for a public awareness campaign around the benefits of medical cannabis and industrial hemp. She made the call during the launch of her new book in Accra, saying that the benefits of cannabis could only be unlocked if the social stigma was broken.
Mauritius’ National Agency for Drug Control (NADC) has completed its final report into a proposed cannabis policy for the Indian Ocean island. The report has been presented to the PM’s office, and although details are still under confidential, it is anticipated that the cannabis will be decriminalized..
Gambian Law enforcement officials have decided to defy the ‘Curse of Jinack Island’ and take action against its illegal cannabis farmers there. Jinack’s growers are said to be protected by ancestral spirits that will bring misfortune to any interfering outsiders.
Malawi is on a drive to issue cannabis and hemp licenses in a bid to boost investment in the sector. Regulatory chief Chris Banda says 55 such licenses were issued in the first quarter of 2026 and the CRA hopes to issue a further 130 licenses before the end of the year.
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