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.
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.
A 28 year old Nigerian man has been sentenced to seven years in prison without the option of a fine for advertising cannabis for sale on social media. The sentence has been welcomed by drug enforcement officials, but has been criticized as ‘jungle justice’ by proponents of justice reform.
A Nairobi judge has dismissed a legal bid by the Kenyan Rastafarian community for religious exemption from cannabis laws, but has called for a ‘national conversation about cannabis. Judge Mwamuye said the country’s approach no longer reflected social reality and the status quo was untenable
Botswana’s high cannabis and hemp licensing fees, published in January this year, have provoked sharp criticism from local stakeholders who feel intentionally locked out of the market. Now, months after promising to review the licensing structure, the Government remains silent as to how it intends incorporating local farmers into the new cannabis sector.
GUN President Brian Jaftha says that Namibia now stands at a cannabis crossroads. With the legal route to legalization closed, Jaftha, is now taking the fight into the political arena. Here he explains his vision in forming the Ganja Users of Namibia Party and how he intends mobilizing it into a credible political force.
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