Business Consultant, Nataki Kambon, says Ghana stands to benefit immensely from the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) if it can take advantage of the production of Indian hemp in the country.
Parliament earlier this year passed a bill that allows for the cultivation of cannabis solely for industrial and medicinal use.
Nataki believes the production of hemp in Ghana stands to create investment opportunities for the country while the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement, presents a wider market reach.
She stated that “we can also create jobs for the people who would be in the sale distribution chain. The people in transportation, distribution, etc, and think of all the jobs it creates just by planting these seeds and allowing them to grow into crops. It also opens the door as we now have the ability to do free trade throughout Africa. I’m working with so many investors from the United States who are interested in how to invest in Africa. There are many black people in the US, UK, and other places who want to invest in Africa and this is an opportunity to open the door to some even small investment groups that can participate in meaningful ways to help create better lives for all of us around the world.”
The World Health Organization (WHO), estimates that around 147 million people, or 2.5 percent of the world population, consume cannabis.
On the African continent, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Lesotho, and South Africa, are among countries that have decriminalized medicinal cannabis use.
The economic potential of the medicinal and industrial cannabis industry has been one of the main reasons for the change in legislation in these countries.
Ghana in March 2020 decriminalized the use of cannabis for health and industrial purposes.
Parliament passed the Narcotics Control Commission Bill, 2019, which also makes the country’s Narcotics Control Board (NACOB) a Commission with enhanced powers to oversee the industrial use of some narcotic substances.
The new law also empowers the Minister for Interior to grant licenses for the cultivation of cannabis of not more than 0.3 percent THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis that gives the users a high sensation, for industrial and medicinal purposes.
Nataki Kambon spoke to Citi Business News on the sidelines of the Ghana Hemptech conference 2020.
The event focused on education, policy investment, and technology in industrialized hemp.
The programme was organized by the CEMT and the Ultimate Farmers Alliance and its partners in Ghana and the Diaspora
