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CANNABIS INDUSTRY 

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Akanda Abandons the Battle for Bophelo and Pulls the Plug on Lesotho

Akanda Abandons the Battle for Bophelo and Pulls the Plug on Lesotho

The unseemly corporate spat between former Akanda chairperson Louise Mojela and its current executives has come to an end with Akanda deciding that Africa is more trouble than it’s worth. The biggest loser in the end is likely to be Lesotho!

Cannabiz Afroca

29 November 2022 at 13:00:00

The Battle for Bophelo is officially over. On 16 November 2022, Nasdaq-listed Akanda announced that it was no longer going to contest the irregular liquidation of its 100% subsididiary, Bophelo Biosciences and Wellness, one of the last executive actions of its former chairperson Louise Mojela shortly before she was fired on 23 June 2022. It would allow the liquidation to go ahead and become a creditor for funds invested in the Lesotho cultivation facility and not try and recover the actual equity.


And when the tears fall, it will be in Lesotho. 


Bophelo, founded by Mojela, had grand aspirations to being the biggest cannabis facility in the world, and it looked that way when Mojela, who founded Bophela, flipped the company up into Canadian multinational Halo Collective in 2018.  Mojela became chairperson of Halo. Halo then decided that the North American market was where the growth lay and unbundled its European assets into a new entity, Akanda, who’s principle assets were Bophelo in Lesotho and Medcann in the UK.


Akanda listed on Nasdaq in March 2022, raised, which it said would be primarily invested in Lesotho.

Akanda is about to hit the big-time in Europe having secured one of the most significant medical cannabis tenders in Germany. Once upon a time it was to source most of its cannabis from Lesotho but now it’s switched emphasis to its newly acquired Sintra state of the art cultivation facility in Portugal, which CEO Tej Virk says has more than enough capacity to supply Europe's medicinal cannabis needs. Already it has fulfilled an order of a ton of high THC flower for the German medical market.


Lesotho's new political leadership is acutely aware of the fact that there are few economic drivers for this landlocked  country other than cannabis. It is unfortunate, in Cannabiz Africa's view, that Majola's ego, has tarnished Lesotho's reputation as a reliable cannabis investment destination. 


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The Chief made his submission to Parliament on 23 May 2023, saying that local landraces were used for  a variety of purposes, including industrial use. He appealed to MP's to support the Mpondoland legacy growers as they were being increasingly marginalized by cannabis reform.

Voice of Reason from Mpondoland: Chief Zwelinkhanyile Diko Tells Parliament: Keep it Simple, Just Classify Local Landraces as Industrial Cannabis

The Chief made his submission to Parliament on 23 May 2023, saying that local landraces were used for a variety of purposes, including industrial use. He appealed to MP's to support the Mpondoland legacy growers as they were being increasingly marginalized by cannabis reform.

The Justice Department took flak in Parliament this week during stakeholder input into the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill where it became evident that state law-makers are clueless as to what Government's intended vision for cannabis is. They remain conceptually and technically completely out of their depth - and lazy to boot as they have not bothered to bring any rational evidence to back up what is truly a pathetic legislative interpretation of the 2018 Constitutional Court ruling legalizing the private consumption of cannabis.

Justice Dept Admits No Rational Evidence Behind Plant Limits in Cannabis Bill as State Lawyers Come Under Fire in Parliament

The Justice Department took flak in Parliament this week during stakeholder input into the Cannabis for Private Purposes Bill where it became evident that state law-makers are clueless as to what Government's intended vision for cannabis is. They remain conceptually and technically completely out of their depth - and lazy to boot as they have not bothered to bring any rational evidence to back up what is truly a pathetic legislative interpretation of the 2018 Constitutional Court ruling legalizing the private consumption of cannabis.

Cannabis and solar power to be the key economic recovery drivers in rebuilding the devestated community of Jagersfontein following the flood disaster eight months ago.

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Cannabis and solar power to be the key economic recovery drivers in rebuilding the devestated community of Jagersfontein following the flood disaster eight months ago.

Akanda Abandons the Battle for Bophelo and Pulls the Plug on Lesotho

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