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.
Namibia’s Government has long maintained that the ban on cannabis reflects the will of the people, but a recent Afrobarometer survey shows the opposite is true – Nambians broadly support full-adult use legalization, especially in Caprivi and the north.
Legal authorities in Namibia are grappling with how to deal with the High Court action challenging the country’s prohibitionist cannabis laws. The matter was to have been heard last week, but was delayed because the case was not yet ‘ripe for court’.
Botswana’s shift towards opening up a cannabis economy took a major step forward when MP’s passed the long-awaited Cannabis Bill. Although full adult-use remains prohibited, offenders caught with small amounts won’t face jail time. Cannabis activists have welcomed the legalization of cannabis for medical and industrial use but say the Bill does not go far enough in decriminalizing the plant.
The four men arrested after last month’s major cannabis bust in Northern Namibia will remain behind bars while further investigations continue. Police say the haul (pictured above) in the Hochfield area was one of the biggest seizures in the country’s history.
Cannabis production is technically legal in Zambia but the prohibitive licensing regime makes legalization an expensive exercise for traditional growers. A recent clampdown by authorities has sparked fresh calls for a new approach to mainstreaming farmers with Zambia’s Harm Reduction Network calling for authorities to bridge the gap between law enforcement and economic opportunity.
Morocco and Ghana have begun the first tentative steps to developing a collaborative relationship around cannabis. Ghana’sl Narcotic Control Commission (NACOC) officials paid a courtesy visit to the Moroccan ambassador in Accra, Ghana to open up a communications channel to share policy and experiences in cannabis legalization.
Community protests took place at the Okahandja Magistrates Court on Wednesday, 30 July 2025, where the four men accused in Namibia’s largest ever cannabis bust were refused bail. The case has raised tensions between pro- and anti-cannabis activists in Namibia as the country’s populace remains deeply divided over legalization.
Batswana citizens are taking it upon themselves to destigmatize cannabis and have launched a public education programme as the country moves towards legalization. The Cannabis Association of Botswana (CAB) took its roadshow to the rural areas to spread the word that cannabis can heal the economic wounds of the past.
Unpaid workers, abandoned fields and marital distress follow the collapse of the short-lived Okahandja illicit cannabis network. The Namibian newspaper visited Eendrag Farm which is under police guard, to piece together the sorry story of how a cattle farm became a cannabis smuggling crime scene.
Tanzania’s drug enforcement authorities have warned that anyone wearing clothes with a cannabis insignia could be liable for arrest. As the rest of the continent adopts a more relaxed approach to the plant, Tanzania is veering in the opposite direction taking a hard line ahead of the general elections scheduled for October 2025.
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