A Lesotho-based manufacturer has been allowed to export cannabis products for medicinal use to the European Union (EU).

The firm, MG Health, said on Thursday that it had received official confirmation that its manufacturing processes were aligned with the EU’s good manufacturing practice standards.

It becomes the first manufacturer in Africa to export medicinal cannabis flower to the EU.

"What this means is that we have authorisation to export our products as an API [active pharmaceutical ingredient] into Germany and the wider European market. We expect to start in June," the Reuters news agency quoted the firm's chief executive Andre Bothma as saying.

Lesotho was the first African nation to legalise the growing of cannabis for medicinal use in 2017.