Rwanda launches its first medical cannabis production site

The Rwandan government will soon open a 134-hectare medical cannabis production site. The information, relayed by the Rwandan daily The New Times, comes from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB). This information marks the official launch of medical cannabis, a few months after officially legalized.

The site, whose location remains unknown, will be slightly smaller than the size of the Principality of Monaco. This large surface area is proof of the Rwandan government's ambitions.

This hopes to profit from «green gold». The head of the RDB forecasts $10 million for a one-hectare harvest... far more than the $300,000 per hectare brought in by flowers, another source of agricultural income.

These 134 hectares will soon be opened... but no cultivation license has yet been granted. «The government will select companies with experience in producing cannabis for medical use. At the moment, five companies are in advanced discussions.», announces an executive quoted by the New Times.

Their identities are not known. The newspaper specifies that those who have applied for a license are both «consortia» than «local businesses».

Cannabis for export to Europe and America

Companies that win the jackpot will have to make major security investments. L’by-law legalizing medical cannabis provides for a system worthy of the American gold reserve at Fort Knox. It will require a « double-layer fence« , a security guard « 24 hours a day, 7 days a week″., the «video surveillance», un «intrusion detection system» and a control room.

Cannabis produced in Rwanda will only be exported elsewhere. The target countries? The United States and its 37 states with legalized medical cannabis, Canada, and Europe, with a few countries that have authorized its use, such as France.’Germany or the United Kingdom.

Rwanda also wants to compete with its neighbors in southern Africa, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo. Lesotho, Botswana, Uganda and Zimbabwe. These countries very active in legal cannabis cultivation. For their part, local people have been growing the plant for hundreds of years. exceptional old varieties.