10 COMPANIES APPLY FOR CANNABIS PRODUCTION

MBABANE – With the race on for the application for licences or permits for the production of cannabis for medicinal purposes and scientific use, 10 companies and individuals have shown interest.
The companies and associations are both local and international, with some coming from as far as Israel and the United States of America.

The companies made their presentations before the select committee, which was tasked with considering the amendment of the Opium and Habit Forming Drugs (Amendment) Bill No.6 of 2020, which was chaired by Lobamba Lomdzala MP Marwick Khumalo.

Some of the companies were against the legalisation of cannabis, but supported the licensing for medicinal cannabis, while others requested that cannabis be used for recreational purposes in the country.
The MPs are divided on the Bill, in the sense that some feel it will take the business away from emaSwati because of the high costs involved in production,  while others are of the view that the companies be allowed to operate in order to revive the economy.

Proposed

The select committee has proposed that companies, which are granted licences, should have a minimum of at least 33 per cent representation or shareholding being emaSwati.
The Bill is piloted by the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi, who reported that her ministry, over the last couple of months, had experienced a surge in the amount of applications for licences and permits for the production of cannabis for medicinal and scientific use under the Opium and Habit Forming Drugs Act of 1922.

The minister informed the committee that in anticipating significant economic and medical benefits from the use of cannabis for medicinal and research purposes, the ministry had therefore embarked on working towards an enabling legislative and regulatory environment, with the aim of preventing the diversion of cannabis into the illicit market while also safeguarding the health of the nation.
Meanwhile, a majority of the companies that want to be issued with licences to grow dagga claim that this will benefit Eswatini both medically and clinically.

For example, one of the companies SwAurora Organic Healthcare Products (Pty) Ltd, has claimed that the total investment the project would bring into the country was about E1.4 billion, which would be about US$80 million through the Eswatini Medical Cannabis (The Sacred Herb) Project.
Most of the 10 companies and individuals, if not all, are registered or preparing to be registered in Eswatini under the Companies Act.
SwAurora further informed the committee that various universities had already indicated willingness to assist the University of Eswatini in research and the benefit to UNESWA would be monetary, as research funding would be made available.

Specialists

“Lecturers and students will be able to work with specialists from other countries, thus creating a true Swazi footprint in the industry,” reads the report in part.
The company further stated that they had made an offer to purchase land at E35 million, which was part of their funding. It stated that medical cannabis was an emerging market and therefore its demand was enormous.
According to the company’s research, the market value was currently estimated at US$340 billion, inclusive of legal and illegal cannabis. It was further stated that SwAurora alone would create 300 new direct job opportunities for emaSwati and that the secondary and tertiary spinoffs would be enormous.

Another company which appeared before the committee was Nisela Farms (Pty) Ltd, which stated that it had access to 200 hectares of virgin land and would want to phase out the growing of sugar cane in favour of hemp.
Nisela Farms reported that it was currently sitting on E150 million contracts and awaiting licensing. It submitted that hemp had the potential of fetching E16 million profit in four months, while sugar cane would only give E10 000 per hectare.

They stated that the figures presented were based on market research. Another liSwati owned association called 10 000 Eswatini informed the committee that it could create about 60 to 100 000 jobs in Eswatini, especially in the rural areas.
The company which was represented by Sifiso Maseko said it was in the process of being registered and stated that it intended to register once the restrictions of growing cannabis in the country were lifted and departments were operational.
They stated that if given the hemp licence, they could realistically provide employment and skills training.
“The immediate area we can start with would be in the clothing and textile industry for the supply of personal protective equipment, infant clothes, diapers and sanitary pads,” the report reads.

Construction

They further stated that they would also be making construction materials, beauty products and animal feed, which were also substantial market sectors that could not only serve the country’s internal needs, but pave the way for supplying export markets to neighbouring States, the rest of Africa and into Europe and Asia.
Meanwhile, S.Can (Pty) Limited stated that it was an Eswatini owned company established solely for educating, advocating and implementing of responsible and professional commercial opportunities related to hemp and the cannabis industry in the country as well as laterally and vertically expanding into essential oils.

The company, according to the report, is represented by Musa Dlamini, who is the legal advisor.
The company stated that there could be potential export to South Africa for personal use, which could basically mean that the only legal option was to purchase non-medical cannabis from Eswatini.

“If the kingdom is to regulate the non-medical cannabis market with better prices and quality cannabis than the South African black market has to offer and even the recently regulated market space, then the law will match the maximum allowed amount for possession of cannabis to that of the proposed South African law (600 grams), allowing anyone to freely cross the border with his personal cannabis with copying some key elements from Uruguay legalisation models,” reads the report.
S.Can further submitted that the country could also prosper from taxation of cannabis, which would fund food and social programmes in the country.   

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