Malawi’s Cannabis Regulatory Authority said on Friday they had issued 86 licenses to 35 companies and cooperatives to venture into cannabis cultivation for industrial hemp production.

Boniface Kadzamila the Board Chairman of Cannabis Regulatory Authority made the announcement from Lilongwe on Friday afternoon.

He said that a total of 41 companies applied but only 35 of them satisfied the requirements.

According to him the authority has issued licenses for cultivation, processing and storage and has not yet issued any license for export of cannabis.

A recent analysis by Invegrow Limited, one of the firms that conducted research on industrial hemp, found that a kilogram of industrial hemp could fetch U$1,444 on the market that there is potential for direct annual benefit for Malawians in excess of U$ 135,440,973 on 16.5 hectares or U$8,803,663 per five hectares.

The analysis further indicated that the crop has ready markets whose global value chain is worth U$9billion thus giving local Malawi investors a basis to take up cannabis production.

Atul Shah, the former chief executive officer of the collapsed retail giant Nakumatt lost his home to auctioneers over a U$18,609,740 debt.

The auction follows the conclusion of a protracted court battle after the Kenyan High Court dismissed a petition seeking to overturn the forced sale of the high-end property by KCB Group.

Justice Francis Tuiyott dismissed the petition by the administrator of the collapsed Supermarket chain, saying it has no chance of success.

Nakumatt’s court-appointed administrator had opposed the sale on grounds that the auction failed to follow the law, and tagged Mr Shah as an interested party to suit.

The bank, through Leakey Auctioneers, early in the year quietly sold the property, which Mr Shah had used as additional security as Nakumatt’s guarantor to offer comfort to the multiple bank loans.

“This court is not persuaded that the suit, as currently presented, demonstrates a prima facie case with a probability of success. Being unable to surmount that hurdle, it is needless for this court to discuss other aspects raised in the application,” the judge said.

KCB had earlier sold Mr Shah’s prime property in Industrial Area, Nairobi, to Furniture Palace International Ltd for about U$9,677,064 court records show.

Kenya may take long to lift a ban on maize imports from East Africanneighbours following a domestic bumper harvest.

Kenya’s Agricultural and Food Authority (AFA) imposed the ban indicating that Kenya would not import the cereal from Tanzania and Uganda for now.

“Kenya would not need maize imports until June. There is plenty from North Rift,” said the crops inspector of the agency, Calistus Efukho, adding that maize imports from Tanzania and Uganda would not be considered until June.

On March 5 this Agricultural and Food Authority (AFA) banned imports of maize from the two countries, citing Aflatoxin contamination above the safety benchmarks.

However Maize importers in Kenya have protested over this, saying contamination of the maize by the toxic material could be an excuse to lock them out of business.

“Our hearts are bleeding. This is our biggest loss ever in this business,” said Mr Daniel Wainaina, chairman of the Kenya International Freight and Warehousing Association (Kifwa).

He said during a meeting convened by the East African Business Council (EABC) that they weren’t sure the maize samples taken meant that all the consignments were infected.

AFA insists that maize imports be accompanied with a certificate of conformity which has to comply with a maximum Aflatoxin levels of 10 parts per billion.

Kenya’s Maize production last year was 43.2 million bags against an annual requirement of 47 million bags.

The projection was not achieved, as the country produced 41.5 million bags, resulting in a shortfall of 5.5 million bags.

Reports have it that over 1.4 million Kenyans are at risk of starvation due to a shortage of 5.5 million maize bags.