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Medical cannabis 
Illegal (including decriminalized)
Known by names like Liamba, Diamba, Bangi, and Motokwane, cannabis has a long and storied history in Africa, from the back alleys of Cairo to the townships of Johannesburg. For the most part on the continent, cannabis is illegal for medical and recreational purposes, and penalties can be much more severe than in North America and Europe. Still, in some countries, including South Africa, Lesothos, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Morocco, there are signs that change — even if just incremental — is on its way for Africa.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Algeria, though consumption is widespread in the country. In addition, authorities often take a prevention over punishment approach to cannabis offenses.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both recreational and medical cannabis (known as “Liamba” in Angola) are illegal in Angola
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
It is illegal to possess, grow, or sell cannabis in Benin, and the law does not differentiate between recreational and medical cannabis.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both recreational and medical cannabis (known as “Motokwane”) are illegal in Botswana. Cannabis is considered a “habit forming drug” under the country’s Drug and Related Substances Act, 1992 and possession can be punished by 10 years imprisonment, though if it is less than 60 grams, the penalty is one to five years.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
It is illegal to possess, grow, or sell cannabis in Burkina Faso, and the law does not differentiate between recreational and medical cannabis.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Burundi.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Cameroon, though it is widely grown and has long been used as a traditional medicine in the country. In 2019, it was reported that a London firm’s plans to build a massive cannabis cultivation project in the country had yet to bear fruit.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Cape Verde.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational cannabis is illegal in the Central African Republic and the country has no legal medical marijuana program.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Chad.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Comoros, though the country did have legal cannabis for a brief time between 1975 and 1978.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Medical and recreational cannabis are both illegal in Cote d’Ivoire.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in the DRC, though the plant is widely cultivated as a cash crop within the massive country, including in remote indigenous communities.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Medical and recreational cannabis are both illegal in Djibouti. The country does not have a widespread cannabis culture or much in-country cultivation, and the stimulant khat is far more popular.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Egypt, though the country has for many years had a very widespread culture of cannabis consumption, specifically of hashish. In 2018, the deputy governor of Cairo proposed a law to decriminalize cannabis, but it did not result in any changes to the status of cannabis in the country. The country also has a long history of medical cannabis use, heading all the way back to ancient Egypt.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Equatorial Guinea. Regardless, in 2000, AFP wrote that “in this west African former Spanish colony, marijuana goes by the name of ‘sacred weed of the people’ and was once used only in traditional ceremonies, but now it is everyone’s tonic.”
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in the east African nation of Eritrea. Under the country’s penal code, possession of cannabis is considered a class 1 petty offense, punishable with imprisonment of six months to one year.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Ethiopia may be the spiritual home of rastafarianism, but medical and recreational cannabis remain illegal in the country. One 2019 assessment stated that the country could potentially have a cannabis cultivation industry worth around US $9.8 billion.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Cannabis is not legal in Gabon including if it is used for medicinal purposes.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Marijuana is illegal for recreational or medicinal purposes in the Gambia. In 2019, Interior Minister Ebrima Mballow said that the government is “totally opposed” to decriminalization. The head of the country’s National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has voiced similar opposition to cannabis reform.
Medical: Illegal* (Hemp is legal for medical and industrial use)
Recreational: Illegal
Medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Ghana, but since the passing of the Narcotics Control Commission Bill in 2020, the state favors alternatives to incarceration for drug offenses like possession of marijuana, which it now views more as a public health issue. The law also legalized the cultivation of hemp for medical and industrial uses.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Guinea.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Guinea-Bissau.
Medical: Illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Kenya under the country’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Control Act of 1994. There have been campaigns in recent years to legalize cannabis, including on the part of the Rastafarian community as well as some lawmakers, including one who introduced draft legislation to legalize cannabis in 2018.
Medical: legal
Recreational: illegal
In 2017, Lesotho became the first African country to legalize the cultivation of cannabis for medical purposes. The country has also legalized the manufacture, distribution, import, and export of cannabis, and the industry is expected to be a major boon for one of the world’s poorest countries. In April, 2021, the country became the first in Africa to be granted an EU license to sell medical cannabis to the EU. The country still does not have a domestic medical cannabis program and recreational cannabis remains illegal in the country.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Liberia.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Libya.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Recreational and medical cannabis are illegal in Madagascar, though according to the UN office on Drugs and Crime from 2016, it has the 14th highest rate of cannabis consumption in the world (9.1%).
Medical: decriminalized
Recreational: Illegal
Malawi in 2020 passed a bill decriminalizing cannabis for medical and industrial use. The move came five years after the country passed legislation legalizing the cultivation of industrial hemp.
Malawi is also home to “Malawi Gold” — one of the world’s most legendary landrace strains, though recreational cannabis remains illegal in the country.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Mali.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Mauritania.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
There is no legal medical or recreational cannabis in Mauritius.
Medical: Legal to cultivate
Recreational: Illegal
Long one of the world’s biggest producers of illicit cannabis (in the form of hashish), in May, 2021, Morocco voted to legalize the cultivation of cannabis for medical and industrial purposes. The country was named by UNDOC in 2016 as the world’s largest producer of cannabis resin. It has not legalized recreational cannabis and there is no domestic medical marijuana program in the country.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Mozambique does not allow the legal use of cannabis for any purpose.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Namibia, though in November 2020, Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila’s office launched a task force to examine the regulation of cannabis in the country.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Cannabis is illegal in Niger for both medical and recreational purposes.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Both medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Nigeria, though in 2019, a provincial governor disclosed plans by the country to grow cannabis for medicinal and industrial purposes.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Cannabis is illegal for medical or recreational purposes in the Republic of Congo.
Medical: legal
Recreational: Illegal
In 2021, Rwanda passed a new order to legalize medicinal use of marijuana, and established regulation for the growing, processing, exporting, and medical and research use of cannabis. The country has not legalized recreational cannabis and retains harsh penalties for offenders.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Cannabis (referred to by locals as “yamba”) is illegal for medical or recreational purposes in Senegal.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in the Seychelles, but in May 2020 the island country took steps to advance new regulations allowing the use of cannabis for medical reasons. The move follows a court decision in June 2019 that ruled that the government must make regulations for the use of medical mairjuana.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Cannabis (known locally as “diamba”) is illegal for both medical and recreational purposes in Sierra Leone. The country remains a major cannabis cultivation area and transit point for smuggling to Europe.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: Illegal
Medical and recreational cannabis are illegal in Somalia, though the plant is the second-most popular illegal drug in the country, after khat.
Medical: legal
Recreational: decriminalized
Under a 2018 ruling by South Africa’s Constitutional Court, it is legal for adults to grow and smoke cannabis in the privacy of their home. The state allows presiding physicians to prescribe medical cannabis products for any health condition and does not have a set list of health conditions.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Cannabis is illegal for medical or recreational purposes in South Sudan.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Sudan does not legally allow the use, possession, sale or cultivation of cannabis for medical or recreational purposes.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Eswatini is home to the famed “Swazi Gold” strain of cannabis, but the plant remains illegal for recreational or medical purposes. The government has stated that it is working on enabling a legislative environment” for some form of legalization framework for cannabis, due to the economic and medical benefits.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Cannabis is illegal for medical or recreational purposes in Sao Tome and Principe.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Cannabis (locally known as “bangi”) is illegal for medical or recreational purposes in Tanzania.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Cannabis is illegal for medical or recreational purposes in Togo.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Cannabis is illegal for medicinal or recreational purposes in Tunisia, where hashish is commonly consumed. The country retains harsh penalties for cannabis offenses.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Referred to as “bhang” by locals, cannabis is illegal for recreational or medical purposes in Uganda, though the country in 2020 issued guidelines for companies or individuals looking to grow cannabis for export purposes. In 2021, the country began allowing cannabis cultivation for export.
Medical: illegal
Recreational: illegal
Cannabis is illegal for recreational purposes in Zambia, though in March 2021 the cabinet approved a bill to legalize cannabis for medicinal and research purposes. That move follows a decision by the country in 2019 to approve cannabis exports. Under the country’s Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act Cap 96, the cultivation of cannabis is legal “if the plant is cultivated for purposes of medicine or is not on a substantial and commercial scale.”
Medical: legal
Recreational: illegal
In 2018, Zimbabwe became the second African country (after Lesotho) to legalize marijuana cultivation for medical and scientific purposes. In 2019, the country approved its first commercial cultivation permit.
