Cannabis is becoming several trillion dollars industry now with countries like Canada and certain states in the US have made cannabis trade and other related activities legal, particularly the usage for medical purposes. Countries in Africa are not far behind. Lesotho became the first African nation to grant the license to grow medical cannabis legally in May 2017, thereby permitting manufacture, supply, export, and transport of medical cannabis and cannabis products from Lesotho. The industry is in its infancy since the official data indicates that output so far is nil. Hundreds of companies are attempting to get licenses or engaged in other serious activities connected with cannabis. The licenses are difficult to come through. One has to chip in a hefty US $37,000 licence fee, which is beyond the means of small scale farmers. Only rich can afford that fee in Lesotho. Eighty licenses have been issued to Lesotho nationals to encourage local entrepreneurs to participate in the local medicinal cannabis industry. The country’s new law stipulates who can prescribe medical cannabis and under what conditions, but lacks the legal and regulatory frameworks for creating and sustaining a workable and inclusive domestic cannabis industry and export environment. Africa’s cannabis market is estimated at US$7.1bn annually by 2023. There are other countries also in Africa which made cannabis trade legal. They are DRC, Zimbabwe and Malawi while Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya will be laying the legal groundwork to legalize production. Other countries in the fray are Zimbabwe , South Africa and a handful in other states – often only doing R&D.
