Zimbabwe is backing off medical cannabis cultivation licensing plans after receiving wildly varied estimates from the 350 applicants interested in the program, the South African reports. Deputy Finance Minister Terrence Mukupe said that too many of the applications offered far different estimates for how much land would be required to grow cannabis and how much money could be made from the plots.
“We’ve had a Dutch investor who told us he needed just 60 hectares, where he expected to make $100 to $200 million annually. Then we have someone else claiming they would make the same profit but with 10,000 hectares of land. There’s too much of a difference.” – Mukupe to the South African
Last month, Zimbabwe became the second African nation to legalize medical cannabis cultivation for both medical and research purposes. The government announced that they would issue industry licenses to Zimbabwe citizens and residents or companies that were incorporated in the nation.
“What has to be done on our side as government is probably to have a proper feasibility study and have experts telling us what’s actually the truth. When you go over the 350 applications the difference in numbers and what they are talking about; it’s crazy.” – Mukupe to News24
Mukupe did not offer a timeline for when licensing would re-commence.
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