Morocco’s government has announced plans to further pursue cannabis as a major source of economic development for the North African country. The government initiative reportedly involves the “construction of cannabis processing plants” in the provinces of Chefchaouen, Taounate, and Al-Hoceima.
Each facility will be 600 square meters in total area and be “equipped with modern infrastructure to manage the entire production process,” with the goal of extracting cannabidiol (CBD) from raw cannabis material. The finished CBD products will then be exported to Europe’s emerging medical cannabis industry.
“The project is funded by the Northern Regions Development Agency (ADRN), which has allocated a budget of 1,702,000 dirhams (around €160,000) for the first plant in Al-Hoceima, northern Morocco. The tender for the design and construction of the plants has already been launched and the selected companies will sign 36-month contracts with the agency.” stated APA News in its original reporting.
“With this initiative, Morocco aims to become a key player in the European cannabis market, a potential market estimated at between $420 and $630 million per year.” APA News also stated.
According to previous reporting by Morocco World News, “Morocco’s National Agency for Regulating Activities Related to Cannabis (ANRAC) has issued 2,905 authorizations for legal cannabis production as of April 23.”
The authorizations are up considerably from last year when Morocco’s National Agency for Regulating Activities Related to Cannabis had issued 609 authorizations that involved a total area of 2,551 hectares.
According to the Morocco’s regulatory agency, the number of authorized licenses include:
- 2,737 permits granted to 2,637 farmers in the regions of Taounate, Chefchaouen, and Al Hoceima
- 168 authorizations granted to 61 operators in the pharmaceutical field
- 48 authorizations for industrial and export purposes
- 42 different cannabis products were made from legal harvests in 2023
Morocco’s first legal cannabis harvest occurred last year and yielded roughly 294 metric tons. The harvest was from a coalition of 32 cooperatives involving 430 farmers in the northern Rif mountain areas. The United Nations estimates that roughly 47,000 hectares of the Rif region are dedicated to cannabis production.