IT is in the public domain that Zambia is sitting on a gold mine which it has failed to exploit.
This is the production and export of cannabis for economic and medicinal purposes which the Government legalised in December 2019.
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For a country that has been struggling to offset its huge foreign debt burden, actualising the production of marijuana could have been a game changer.
Green Party President Peter Sinkamba, who has been advocating the export of cannabis since 2013, said the move could earn Zambia up to $36 billion annually.
“Depending on how properly this is done, this could just change the face of Zambia’s economy,” Mr Sinkamba said then in reaction to the government’s decision.
Zambia simply cannot afford to sit back and let this gold mine remain unexploited for unexplained reasons.
We are glad that former Bank of Zambia Governor Caleb Fundanga has joined the debate, saying Zambia is missing out by delaying the actualisation.
He said growing industrial marijuana is a very big money spinner in Zimbabwe and Zambia is losing out
Dr. Fundanga said in Zimbabwe when they said they legalised the production of marijuana, the government established a refinery where they could extract the oil or hemp that has value on the international market.
He noted that in Zambia, there were just plans to designate who were going to be producing the marijuana.
Surprisingly, Zimbabweans were late entrants on the marijuana project yet they are already reaping the benefits according to Dr Fundanga, who once served on the Monetary Policy Committee of the country’s central bank.
The Zambian government said then that marijuana production will be restricted though for exports and medical purposes only.
There will be a $250, 000 annual licence fee for companies wishing to trade marijuana in Zambia.
There is a bidding process for those looking to be issued a commercial licence to cultivate and sell marijuana in Zambia.
The marijuana cultivation and trade licences will be issued by the Ministry of Health, and marijuana cultivation will be overseen and enforced by the Zambia National Service.
Yet, the government could have embraced Mr Sinkamba’s proposals and improved on them. But it has simply ignored them.
Mr Sinkamba in 2020 registered an association called Zambian Hemp Growers & Industries Association (Zam Hemp) with PACRA, with the principal business activity to promote the cultivation, production, manufacturing, distribution, and coordination of hemp business in Zambia as well as protecting and upholding rights and interests of its members.
We feel it is about is time the country moved forward and actualised the marijuana project for as Dr Fundanga noted, now that Zambia’s debt was being restructured there was a need to ramp up production for exports and enable the country to get back on its feet economically.
Zambia is not only missing out financially but losing out on employment creation from cultivation to development through the value-addition chain. It shouldn’t be so losing a potential goldmine and doing nothing about it.
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