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.
Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings, the daughter of strongman and former president of Ghana, Jerry Rawlings (pictured above), has won the hearts of hemp activists after calling on her country to turn to industrial hemp as a means to solve her country’s growing environmental waste problem.
Police have stepped up the arrests of illicit cannabis dealers over the past month as eSwatini outdoor floods the local black market. In the latest developments a 43 year old man was arrested in Letsitele, Limpopo for allegedly ferrying eSwatini flower to Zimbabwe, while police are searching for a man in Tonga who abandoned a car full of cannabis after a high speed chase.
Leading Nanibian cannabis activist Brian Jaftha, convicted on cannabis possession charges two years ago, has been released on parole just short of serving his full sentence. The Justice Ministry’s decision is another indication of a groundswell change of attitude under way.
Rwanda’s Development Board has put up US$1,5 million of the US$3 million needed to complete a major project in partnership with US company KKOG which has already sunk US$10 million into its Musanze facility. The project, already delayed by a year, is now ‘83%’ complete according to the RDB.
Namibia’s draconian anti-drug laws are increasingly under the spotlight as cannabis activists mobilise to legally challenge Windhoek’s prohibitiosist stance. Here Cannabiz Africa’s Africa editor, John Makoni takes a deep dive into the Namibian cannabis landscape where the fault lines are opening up like never before.
The private sector must get in on the ground to help shape Botswana’s cannabis and hemp policies. This is the view of IETD director Charity Kennedy (pictured here) who is organizaing a stakeholder conference at the end of August 2025 to help shape Government policy.
CAB head Peo Seed (pictured here) says cannabis legalization should not just be about job creation but entrepreneurial development and technological innovation. CAB wants cannabis decriminalized and to reshape the nation’s approach to the plant as one that could bring prosperity to the people
Namibian cannabis stakeholders have until Friday 13 June 2025 to have their say on cannabis reform. The Namibian government has invited public comment on current cannabis legislation, and its new-found openness to engagement could result in an easing of its prohibitionist laws.
This is the joint submission to the Namibian Government by the Ganja Users of Namibia (GUN), Cannabis and Hemp Association of Namibia (CHAN), Medical Marijuana Association of Namibia (MMAN) and Rasta United Front (RUF) of Namibia ahead of today’s deadline for public comment on cannabis laws. They specifically criticize the Abuse of Dependence-Producing Substances and Rehabilitation Centres Act 41 of 1971 (RSA), also known as “the Impugned Act”) and the Medicines and Related Substances Act 101 of 1965 (“the Medicines Act”).
Namibia may be in for a complete overhaul of its cannabis laws in the strongest indications yet from the Government of a change in its prohibitionist attitude. It has called for public input on current legislation and proposals on the way forward, and senior Justice Department officials this month attended the Cannabis Regulators Association meeting in Denver, Colarado.
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