Africa

Three pharmaceutical companies in Zimbabwe have started to manufacture cannabis medicines under the country’s five-year-old industrial hemp reforms.

South Africa became the first country in Africa to legalize cannabis for personal use last week under a bill signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa just days before the president’s party lost its majority in Congress.

The legal cannabis industry in Africa is poised for massive growth with a recent report estimating the market could be worth more than $7.1 billion by the end of 2023.

In less than a decade, the cannabis industry has gone from seeing a worldwide blanket prohibition of the plant to today, where new and exciting cannabis opportunities can be found across the globe.

African nations including Malawi and Zimbabwe are looking to diversify their agricultural programs with cannabis as worldwide demand for tobacco diminishes.

Lawmakers in Morocco are set to legalize the production and use of medical cannabis products as soon as next week.

New rules for the cultivation, processing, and export of medical cannabis in Rwanda were approved by officials there on Monday.

South Africa Cabinet officials have advanced a bill legalizing the adult use of cannabis; the measure comes three years after a High Court ruling declared that cannabis prohibition was unconstitutional.

Canopy Growth Corp. has announced a series of changes for the Canadian company, including shutting down all of its operations in Africa, moving to an asset-light model in Latin America, and exiting the U.S. hemp cultivation scene.

South Africa officials have approved the development of a cannabis college for training potential industry workers in cultivation and distribution.

Creso Pharma Ltd (ASX: CPH) has established itself as an early mover within the medicinal cannabis sector, as the global cannabis market is expected to reach US$272 billion within the decade.

A medical cannabis product shipment by Industrial Globus Uganda Ltd. has been approved by European Union inspectors; the shipment contains THC- and CBD-rich cannabis meant for Sativex drug production.

Officials in Zimbabwe announced a plan to legalize hemp and export hemp-based products to the global market.

Zimbabwe’s first medical cannabis farm will be a 10-hectare plot at a prison. The license was granted nearly one year after the government legalized cannabis cultivation for medical and scientific purposes.