Our Projects

Our Project

The project will establish a Medicinal Cannabis Indoor Cultivation and Production Facility in Lesotho relying of a combination of aeroponic and hydroponic technologies. The facility will strictly adhere to internationally prescribed production methodologies to propagate, cultivate, and ultimately process medicinal grade cannabis. To this end, GACP (Good Agricultural and Collection Practice) and GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice) standards and requirements are implemented from the design and inception phases through to the end product to ensure a top-quality crop that meets with the strict international standards for exporting cannabis.

Medicinal Cannabis

According to recent market research, the global cannabis pharmaceuticals market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of approximately 77% between 2020 and 2027.

The global market for medical grade cannabis products is expected to grow to US$80 – US$120 billion annually by FY 2024 and shows no signs of abating. As a reference, the cannabis market in 2020 was approximately US$20 billion so an increase of ~400% – 500% is expected over the next 3-4 years.

Afri Grow will vertically integrate the medical and pharmaceutical sectors of cannabis production – from the genetic strains via seed/clone through to the flower stage, to the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical processes to manufacturing integrated medicinal/ pharmaceutical end-products. This ensures a superior, high-quality product driven by the end-consumers’ demands.

The cannabis plant contains 80 to 100 cannabinoids. One of these that gets people high is called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Many of the others have the potential to revolutionize the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Applications for medicinal cannabis include cancer treatment, fibromyalgia, arthritis, diabetes, HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, PTSD, Autism, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and depression and anxiety.

Recent research by Oregon State’s Global Hemp Innovation Centre in collaboration with scientists at the Oregon Health and Science University showed compounds in cannabis can prevent infection from the virus that causes Covid-19 by blocking its entry into cells – this could have widespread application in the ongoing fight against Covid-19.

“Lesotho is one of the lowest cost producers of legal cannabis in the world”

We recognize the importance of ‘high quality’ products to consistently produce pharmaceutical grade cannabis from one crop to another within accepted specifications/tolerances. Afri Grow will produce and cultivate all our cannabis in-house in a carefully controlled and regulated environment to ensure the highest specifications are met.

Afri Grow, with our operations in Lesotho, has procured a rare, full spectrum license (fully GACP, GMP and in the future EU GMP certified), one of only 12 active licenses in Lesotho which gives a us a clear, competitive advantage to our competitors to grow, harvest, manufacture and process pharmaceutical grade cannabis.

State of the art technology will be deployed using ‘in-house’ complexes with multiple rooms (incl. automated climate control, autonomous nutrient, water and bacteria controls etc.) to produce high-end pharmaceutical grade cannabis.

Typically, these high-end technologies would imply high CAPEX for all the set-up costs, however, using highly experienced Technical Partners and Advisors who have set-up multiple cannabis farms (in-house, green-house and outdoor) in Lesotho and South Africa will enable us to materially reduce costs and mitigate risks typically associated with start-up companies.

OPEX costs for our Project is estimated to be ~40% cheaper than our competitors in Canada and the USA due to cheaper power (electricity/solar) plus labour costs.

Our project will

Start with one facility of 2,000 m² with 6 independent growing rooms able to produce 2,200 kg of dried flower per annum. Breaking ground in the 1^st quarter of 2022 will see first harvest by the end of 2022.

- We will expand to 3 complexes x 2,000 m² with the 2nd complex’s site establishments starting by month 13 and the 3rd complex’s site establishments starting by month 20. Each individual complex will produce 2,200 kg of dried flower per annum.

- Further expansion by another 3 x 2,000 m2 facilities will be ongoing with organic expansion.

Strict quality control and laboratory environment will assure that all plants are grown under the highest possible standards adhering to GACP, GMP and EU GMP standards.

We have aligned ourselves with international strategic partners with routes to pharmaceutical companies, EU GMP processing facilities and retail markets for delivering finished integrative medicinal products. Having a direct route to EU GMP certification for Pharma-grade flower and sale into the EU market is highly sought after and offers geographic risk diversification to sell products to multiple buyers across the world at premium prices

Why Lesotho

The mountain Kingdom of Lesotho is a land-locked sovereign state providing a stable political, economic, legal and socio-economical environment which is exemplary to other large African nations. Referred to the “Switzerland of Africa” and strong ties to the UK Royal family, Lesotho is a country poised for growth as it has several foreign trade treaties in place including with the USA and UK.

There are many good reasons for investing in the Kingdom of Lesotho and specifically in its cannabis industry. Lesotho passed legislation for the legal cultivation, processing and export of medicinal grade cannabis in 2018 by issuing individual licenses to applicants under strict regulatory and statutory conditions. Lesotho was the first African country to pass such legislation followed by Zimbabwe, Uganda and South Africa (although to a more limited extent).

Cannabis cultivation licenses in Lesotho allow for the full spectrum of activities under one license and incorporates all aspects of operation from seed to sale. Several large international companies eagerly invested in the fledgling cannabis industry in Lesotho due to the pristine natural environment, low cost of labour and utilities.

Some of the major factors that contribute to Lesotho as the ideal destination for cannabis cultivation include

It is a well-known fact that the cost of cultivation is significantly lower in Africa than in the rest of the world, especially first world countries such as Germany, Canada, USA, Australia and Holland. In Southern Africa, even with the challenges faced by power utility Eskom, electricity is still significantly cheaper than most first world countries.

In Lesotho the cost of electricity is even cheaper at around 39% of the price in neighbouring South Africa. The cost of construction, labour, management salaries, transport and accommodation are all significantly lower compared to the rest of the world. The insignificant status of Lesotho’s economy means basically all services and costs are low even by African standards. All these factors combined result in Lesotho being among the lowest cost cannabis producers in the world.

- Owning a Lesotho cannabis cultivation license is a major advantage as it allows for the full spectrum of activities across the supply chain. Most other jurisdictions that have passed legislation issue licenses for only certain aspects within the supply chain such as the importation of seeds, product handling, cultivation or the export of refined product. Seldom does the licence extend to the full supply chain.
- The effect is that a significant portion of the profit for a cultivator would otherwise be paid to third- party license holders. In Lesotho, the legislation for cannabis cultivation allows for the license holder to control all iterations of the product. The license holder is thus in control of all aspects of the product value chain. In other words, each license entity has absolute control over the total value chain and does not have to pay fees or royalties to another licensee.
- The following license conditions apply:

- License validity is 10 years with extension option included;
- Cultivation area is set at 30,000m² with 2000m2 x 6 alone standing facilities under roof, however, may be extended upon request;
- Annual renewal fees apply per annum;
- A period of 12 months from the issuing of the license activation is allowed before commencement of the erection of facilities;
- Licensees are regulated by the Kingdom of Lesotho Ministry of Health and International Narcotic Control Board.

- Lesotho corporate tax rates are competitive with other jurisdictions at a fixed percentage of 25%. There is also a special category for registered manufacturers when in full production, which would allow the tax rate to be reduced to as low as 10%.

- In March 2018 a Canadian company, Supreme Cannabis, made a C$10 million investment to acquire a stake in a local Lesotho company MediGrow. Shortly thereafter, the Canadian cannabis giant Canopy Growth paid over US$ 21 million to acquire the Lesotho company Daddy Cann and, in the same month, Aphria formed a joint venture with Verve Dynamics.
- Research indicates that more investment is expected to flow into Lesotho cannabis industry in the months and years ahead.

- Electricity is a major expense for growing indoors. The cost of electricity in third world countries are far less compared to the rest of the world. Lesotho utility charges are even lower at around 39% of that of South Africa. The Lesotho Government is also in favour of solar plants especially if it means that the local village will benefit from the provision of electricity in their communities.

- Afri Grow’s strategic partner, Leavea Lesotho, has established strong relationships on different government levels in Lesotho, to the extent that they were asked to supply the draft for the treaty between Lesotho and the International Narcotics Control Board in Basel, Switzerland. Former Constitutional Court Judge William Heath (a strategic partner of Leavea) was appointed by the King of Lesotho to amend certain aspects of the constitution on his behalf. Strategic relations are held with many of the senior members of Government and Departments.

- Water is an abundant commodity in Lesotho and tests conducted on other facilities’ water supplies proved to be of pure quality. Although our cultivation methods of choice are very water efficient, a high-quality water source is still essential.

Afri Grow’s Competitive Advantage

Other than the unique low cost of production that our project benefits from compared to most other projects worldwide, one of the few other ways to remain competitive in the cannabis market is by diversifying across product types. The dried flower and biomass are the most well-known products from the plant which are processed to make various extracts. Oils, distillates and isolates are produced through different methods of extraction and is the foundation for the next level in the cannabis value chain. Cultivators have the option to deliver such extracts directly to the customers through the installation of their own extraction systems

Cannabis extracts can be used in the production of medication, potions, supplements, cosmetic, edibles and many more. Product development can be incorporated on-site with a laboratory that could develop the cultivator’s own product range and ultimately a production facility could be established.

The waste could also be used as fiber in many other products and therefore the whole plant is utilised with ultimately no waste. Demand will grow exponentially as the impact of climate change influences the market and drive the demand for recycled, energy-efficient and ’green’ product options.

One of our key strategic partners is a genetics company with over 300+ registered strains of cannabis including all major landraces, providing tissue cultures to the market. Afri Grow has a strategic network with 90+ cannabis cultivators across Africa, which allows direct access for tissue culture and genetics to be supplied.