African cannabis growers are on a high

WHEN HE WAS a child, Lauben Kabagambe’s grandparents in western Uganda would boil cannabis leaves to treat sick animals. “I grew up knowing that it is a medicine,” he recalls. Today, as the boss of Industrial Hemp, a Ugandan cannabis company, he is growing weed in computer-controlled greenhouses in partnership with a subsidiary of Together Pharma, an Israeli firm. In April they exported 250kg of medical cannabis to Israel, the first commercial batch ever to leave Uganda.

Africans have been smoking pot for generations: traces have been found on 14th-century pipes in Ethiopia. In colonial times its use was condemned by the church and banned by the state. Now governments sniff an opportunity. Since 2017 five African countries have legalised cannabis farming for medicinal or industrial purposes.

Medicinal plants are typically squat and leafy. The flowers grown in Uganda contain high levels of CBD, a chemical which can be used in therapeutic oils. “It’s cheaper to grow in African countries,” says Nir Sosinsky of Together Pharma, noting that Uganda has low wages and lots of water. This sort of cultivation is high-tech and capital-intensive: firms in Lesotho, a regional pioneer, have attracted multimillion-dollar investments from Canada.

Industrial hemp looks different, growing in tall clusters like bamboo. It contains...