Lesotho, one of Africa’s poorest countries, is dreaming big for the upcoming years — the government is planning on developing an effective agricultural strategy to help fund fundamental groundwork such as electricity, water pipes, and roads.

Wondering just how the country is going to accomplish all of that?

Well, according to sources, the government of Lesotho is attempting to encourage the creation of legal cannabis plantations and broaden the tax rate of the worldwide medical cannabis industry, making lots of new jobs in the process.

In the previous year, Lesotho was the very first nation in Africa to successfully issue licenses for the cultivation of medical cannabis. Due to the affordable production rates, many foreigners, including Canadian companies such as Canopy Growth Corp. and Supreme Cannabis Co., have invested millions into a couple of facilities.

In fact, Lesotho’s largest commercial producer, MG Health, got $7.6 million from Supreme Cannabis in 2018 in exchange for a mere 10% of Medigrow Lesotho. Once MG Health reaches its full production potential, around 3,000 new job postings will be open for grabs.

MG Health is known for harvesting a special strain of cannabis with very low levels of THC to stay within the rigid regulations. Furthermore, MG Health exports cannabidiol extracts and various other products featuring medical cannabis to South Africa. Most importantly the company revealed their future plans to enter markets in the Middle East, Australia, and Europe.

The emergence of the legal industry in the country has inspired many illegal producers who grow and sell strains famous for their potent psychoactive effects. These illegal growers are able to avoid jail-time by producing the drug in distant locations. One of the illegal producers, Kotsoana Clementi, spoke up about his wish to partner up with one of the Canadian companies.

According to Clementi, in order to employ the villagers, it is vital to secure an investor. Clementi also added that he would still be responsible for the business, but the people in the village could take a 2–3% share.

Cannabis has been cultivated in every part of Lesotho as medicine for a very long time. Not only is it simpler to grow than sugar canes and maize but Lesotho’s fertile soil proves to be ideal for the cultivation of cannabis as well.