60 medicinal cannabis licences issued

Added on 22 August 2022

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The Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) has licensed 60 companies to manufacture medicinal cannabis, as the country starts producing medication from Cannabis, dubbed Cannabidiol (CBD) complementary medicines.

Zimbabwe is targeting to make cannabis one of its leading exports, with an annual revenue of US$1 billion expected. Recently, the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe (MCAZ) approved production of CBD complementary medicines and invited drug manufacturers to apply for production licences.

Investors responded overwhelmingly to the call and ZIDA is confident local farmers can produce enough medicinal cannabis to support the industry. ZIDA's chief innovation officer Dr Raban Masuka said investment into medicinal cannabis is on a steady growth.

"Medicinal cannabis is licensed in two places. There is a regulatory licence obtained from the Ministry of Health and Child Care through MCAZ as the regulator," he said.