ESWATINI MISSES OUT ON E207 BILLION CANNABIS MARKET SHARE

MBABANE – As parliamentarians continue to toss the Cannabis Bill back and forth, Eswatini is missing out on the E207 billion (US$12.1bn) market share of the medical cannabis industry.

The figure is only a fraction in comparison to the actual value of the cannabis industry. In fact, it is believed that the global cannabis market, regulated and illicit, is valued at E5.9 trillion as reported by Medical Marijuana Inc, News.
According to the Global Cannabis Report compiled by Prohibition Partners, which is a B2B (Business to Business) discovery platform for cannabis, it predicted that the size of the market would increase to E123 billion by 2023. Latest reports show that the market size had increased to about E207 billion.

Further, in another report compiled by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in 2020, the United Nations (UN) voted to reschedule cannabis, downgrading it by one level from the list of the world’s most dangerous drugs – those deemed to have no therapeutic value, and which require special governance protocols due to their uniquely high-risk profile. While cannabis is still classified as a highly dangerous drug, this move marked the most significant change to the body’s policy on the plant in 60 years.

Proposals

The vote was based on a series of cannabis liberalisation proposals submitted by the World Health Organisation (WHO), and although the UN rejected all the other WHO cannabis-related proposals (including removing CBD entirely from theschedule of narcotic drugs), the vote was still an important milestone as a tacit acknowledgement by the global body that the dangers to cannabis had long been overstated, and that the plant has more therapeutic value than previously recognised in the longstanding global framework of blanket prohibition.

It was following this that some countries began to realise the importance of legalising cannabis for medical and also recreation purposes. In the Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, only five countries namely Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Zambia, South Africa and Malawi have legalised the use of cannabis for medical purposes, recreation or both.

Though Eswatini is known around the world, according to Prohibition Partners as one of Africa’s major distribution points, the selling, possession, and transportation of cultivation of cannabis remains illegal. It is illegal under the Opium and Habit-Forming Drugs Act No. 37 of 1922 and the Pharmacy Act No. 38 of 1929. About a week, ago, the Minister of Health, Lizzie Nkosi stated that Eswatini can largely benefit from the growing of cannabis.

She said there were many types of cannabis and that the advantage of the kingdom was that the environment was conducive to the growth of the cannabis. The minister noted this while responding to questions over the delay in the enactment of the Cannabis Bill. This was after the Eswatini Cannabis Association had noted that the ministry was partly to blame for dragging the bill long and delaying its enactment. 

Benefit

Meanwhile, the chairperson of the Eswatini Cannabis Association also noted that cannabis had a huge economic benefit. Magagula further stated that the legalising of dagga would also benefit farmers and give them more opportunities. He said other opportunities would also be available such as the manufacturing of various products.
Meanwhile, according to All Africa, Malawi registered about 72 companies to grow and sell cannabis in Malawi. This was confirmed in 2021 by the Malawi Cannabis Regulatory Authority (MCRA).Malawians hailed this move by the government as more job opportunities were created in the various sectors of the country’s economy.

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