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.
Cannabis is being overlooked by Africa’s pharmaceutical industry says leading cannabis scientist Prof David Katerere. He says it’s time for SADC to have a roundtable to align policies and frameworks and collaborate on developing an Afrobotanical processing sector.
The study of Africa’s cannabis landraces has barely begun even though the continent is famed for its indigenous landraces. Lesotho cultivator WeGrow has identified 15 ‘source strains’ of African cannabis that deserve closer scientific attention.
FDLR rebels in the Eastern DRC developed a thriving cannabis industry to finance their war against Kinshasa. A former rebel leader says illegal mining and timber extraction funded the FLDR who were also in the cannabis trafficking business with UN peacekeepers.
Only six African countries are in the latest INCB quota review with a total 2026 quota of 74 824 kg allowed, less than the 90 000 kg quota that Israel enjoys. Nonetheless the continent’s production quota is up 27% from January, thanks to the DRCs’s emergence as an international player.
The DRC has entered the international medical cannabis export market with a bang. In six months, having not featured at all on international production quotas, it now has been cleared to export 20 tons of medical cannabis this year, the same allocation enjoyed by current market leader, South Africa.
Over 42% of Nambians support the legalization with attitudes sharply divided along ethnic lines. That’s the context, as government decides on policy going forward, and a new political party has been formed by the GUN to push for broader justice reform.
Zimbabwe’s cabinet has approved amendments to the Tobacco Research Act to allow for capacity building in the cannabis industry as well as tobacco.
Namibian Customs seized more than 50 tons of illicit cannabis in 2025, making it number three in global cross border cannabis busts, after the United States and France. South Africa ranked ninth in the 2025 Illicit Trade Report by the World Customs Union, which monitors the transnational flow of contraband.
Zimbabwe has tightened controls over the medical cannabis industry, shifting all administration to the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe and the establishment of an oversight commission and a dedicated team of compliance inspectors.
Botswana’s President Duma Boko says pilot cultivation trials have proved the country is ready to roll out a commercial strategy for industrial hemp. The government says it will provide support for local farmers who say they are being locked out of a market that favours multinationals.
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