GCX and Cannabis Chamber Collaborate to Develop Ghana’s Cannabis Industry

Accra: The Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) and the Chamber of Cannabis Industry Ghana have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to support the structured development of the cannabis industry. The partnership aims to establish a formal, transparent, and regulated market system to guide the cultivation, processing, and trade of cannabis for industrial and medicinal purposes. According to Ghana News Agency, Ms Evelyn Abakah, Chief Executive Officer of GCX, stated that the collaboration marks a deliberate step towards building a 'formal, compliant and export-ready' cannabis industry aligned with Ghana's economic transformation agenda. She emphasized that leveraging the Exchange's electronic trading platform will provide producers with access to fair markets while ensuring transparency, price discovery, and regulatory compliance. 'Investors will find confidence in a rules-based, well-governed trading environment, while regulators will benefit from improved data visibility and oversight,' she added. Dr Mark Darko, President of the Chamber of Cannabis Industry Ghana, described the MoU as a significant milestone, indicating a shift from debate to practical industry development anchored on regulation and credible institutions. He noted that aligning the cannabis sector with a structured trading platform such as GCX would promote integrity, traceability, and global competitiveness. Mr Dickson Tweneboa-Kodua, Counsel for the Chamber, remarked that the collaboration demonstrates Ghana's movement beyond legal permission to institutional readiness. 'The law has created a lawful opening. but serious industries are built not by law alone, but by law supported by institutions,' he commented. The partnership is expected to strengthen value chains, attract responsible investment, create jobs, and support Ghana's non-traditional export drive. Ghana amended its narcotics laws in 2020 to permit the cultivation of cannabis with low tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) content for industrial and medicinal use. Section 43 of the Narcotics Control Commission Act, 2020 (Act 1019), as amended, together with Legislative Instrument (L.I.) 2475, provides the legal framework for the sector. The Narcotics Control Commission recently opened applications for licences across 11 areas of the cannabis value chain, including cultivation, processing, research, storage, transportation, and export. The law restricts cultivation to cannabis varieties with THC levels not exceeding 0.3 per cent on a dry weight basis.