Aphria Inc. APHA

RE:LP's leaving Jamaica

[Humanist]

its interesting that APHA DIDN'T ANNOUNCE IT ! 

Aphria, Aurora And Other Big Ag Cannabis Companies Pull Out Of Jamaica
|May 30, 2020,09:56am EDT
Sara Brittany SomersetContributor
Vices
I cover marijuana, global affairs and the intersection of the two.
Canadian Licensed Producers (LP) of cannabis are leaving Jamaica in droves, due in part to stalled governemental decisions on export licenses.
Aphria (TSE: APHA), is “halting all further investments in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said a former employee exclusively to Sara Brittany Somerset for Forbes online. Approximately 200 former Aphria employees were laid off last week in an effort by the company to downsize and restructure.

Canadian cannabis producer The Green Organic Dutchman (CSE: TGOD) is no longer pursuing opportunities in Jamaica so it can focus on its struggling Canadian operations, the Mississauga, Ontario-based company said, according to MJ Biz.

Aurora (TSE: ACB), a Canadian-listed cannabis company, has sold its Jamaica asset for less than its CDN$4.5 million ­valuation in order to gain capital.

“The company also accepted an offer to sell its Jamaica property for gross proceeds of CDN$3.4 million,” said Aurora in a market filing.
Aurora’s languishing property in Jamaica would have formed the headquarters for its local operations.

According to the Gleaner, Aurora also sold assets it held in other regions in order to focus on local production in Canada.

Additional unforseen hardships such as the stark implications of the novel coronavirus pandemic, which caused a sharp and rapid decline in toursim, left companies including Aphria with a glut of rotting marijuana inventory intended for the rapidly diminished retail market.

Even if the Jamaican government were to expedite the issuance of export licenses, the global market is extremely limited. The slight amount of export –such as Global Canna’s to Canada– was only permitted for medical research and development. Those miniscule export amounts do not add up to any genuine marketable or profitable volume.

Frustrated with the lack of action on the part of the Jamaican Government and its regulatory arm, the Cannabis Licensing Authority (CLA), it appears as if the Canadian cannabis companies are cutting their losses and heading home.

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Sara Brittany Somerset
I am a United Nations-based cannabis correspondent and global drug policy analyst. My work has been syndicated worldwide in various media outlets from The New York Times
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