Ondo may be first to cash in on the $7.1b dormant Africa’s Cannabis market if…
Barely two months after we carried a Special Report captioned: ‘Ondo, Edo May Gain From $7.1b Africa’s Cannabis Market If…’ (https://businesshilights.com.ng/ondo-edo-may-gain-more-from-7-1b-africas-cannabis-market-if/), Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), has advised the Federal Government to explore the opportunities in the cannabis business by way of legalising its export to needing countries than the ongoing wastages.
The Governor made the appeal while on walking visit to Thailand where he saw with the chief executive officer of the National Drug Laws Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Muhammad Abdallah, how Thais are using cannabis to make food and drugs.
Akeredolugave the insight on his verified Twitter handle: @RotimiAkeredolu, saying “We know that Ondo State is the hotbed of Cannabis cultivation in Nigeria. We know how to grow it and it thrives well in the Sunshine State.
“With an estimated value of $145 Billion in 2025, we would be shortchanging ourselves if we failed to tap into the legal Marijuana Market”.
Whereas the Governor averred that he is looking at establishing medical marijuana cultivation under the full supervision of the NDLEA, a recent report published by Prohibition Partners (PP) which describes itself as provider of market insights and strategic consultancy in the cannabis sector, said the potential market value of cannabis on the continent could be up to $7.1 billion annually by 2023 if the production is decriminalized especially in Nigeria and Cameroon.
Otherwise, emerging global legalization of cannabis usage across the world may become a huge investment window for both Ondo and Edo states of Nigeria currently famous for salutary soils for the production.
This is coming from a new global report which revealed that the potential market value of cannabis on the continent could be up to $7.1 billion annually by 2023 if the production is decriminalized.
The country most closely associated with drug use (and drugged out tourists) is probably the Netherlands.
However, countries that have legalized the medical use of cannabis include Australia, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Poland, North Macedonia, Thailand, Mexico and Uruguay plus another 16 nations underway. PP report is upbeat that decriminalizing cannabis production in Nigeria with the aim of targeting the emerging markets in Europe and Americas will avail Nigeria the $7.1bn business case by 2023.
Statistics of seizures by the NDLEA has shown that Ondo and Edo are running head-to-head in national production of the weed popularly called marijuana, but it has not been legalized by the federal government.
The report made it clear that “Assuming there is full legalisation and regulation of the cannabis industry, South Africa and Nigeria potentially represent the region’s two largest value medicinal cannabis markets going forward, worth $667 million to South Africa and $75 million to Nigeria by 2023, the report found”.
The report from Prohibition Partners (PP) which describes itself as provider of market insights and strategic consultancy in the cannabis sector includes detailed market value forecasts, regulatory timeline analysis, consumption data and healthcare analyses for nine key markets, including Nigeria, Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
