Ghana’s newly regulated medicinal and industrial cannabis sector is being actively pitched to Ghanaians in the diaspora, with the investment promotion agency positioning it as a high-growth opportunity reserved exclusively for citizens and permanent residents, a legal structure that gives the diaspora a competitive edge over foreign corporations.
Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) Chief Executive Officer Simon Madjie made the pitch at the Remit2Invest roundtable in Virginia, United States, on April 19, 2026, telling Ghanaians abroad that the industry was open across the full value chain.
“Now, we have legalised the cultivation of industrial and medicinal Indian Hemp. You can go into the cultivation, the processing, the marketing, and the regulation,” Madjie said.
The sector became operational in February 2026, when Interior Minister Mubarak Mohammed-Muntaka formally launched the Medicinal and Industrial Cannabis Program in Accra, activating a licensing regime under the Narcotics Control Commission (NACOC) and underpinned by the Narcotics Control Commission Amendment Act, 2023 (Act 1100) and the Narcotics Control Cultivation and Management of Cannabis Regulation, 2023 (LI 2475). NACOC opened licence applications in April 2026.
Under the framework, only cannabis varieties containing not more than 0.3 percent tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) on a dry weight basis may be cultivated, aligning Ghana’s standards with those of regulated markets in North America and Europe. Recreational cannabis remains illegal. Crucially, licences are restricted to Ghanaian citizens or permanent residents aged 18 and above, a requirement that structurally positions diaspora Ghanaians as preferred investors over foreign interests.
The pitch from Madjie came alongside a broader push at the same event by Bank of Ghana (BoG) Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama, who described the diaspora as strategic assets and noted that remittances, which reached $7.8 billion in 2025, now exceed foreign direct investment (FDI).
Ghana’s government has framed the cannabis programme as an economic diversification strategy, not a shift toward recreational use. The sector covers cultivation, processing, distribution, import and export, with potential products spanning pharmaceuticals, wellness oils, textiles, cosmetics and industrial materials.
