Zimbabwe will repeal laws banning the cultivation of cannabis as the country seeks to boost export revenue and offset the global campaign against tobacco, a major source of foreign currency, Information Minister Monica Mutsvangwa said.

The emphasis will be on industrial hemp, which is also illegal, and medicinal cannabis that “will take a long time to set up structures,” Mutsvangwa told reporters in capital, Harare. “The crop can be a good substitute to the leading export crop, tobacco, which is at risk of being banned globally.”

The southern African nation has also secured 400 megawatts of power from Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. and will make weekly payments to settle outstanding debt with South Africa’s state-owned utility, she said.

The government will also declare the current drought a state of disaster, Mutsvangwa said. Zimbabwe has been in the grips of drought since last year, resulting in food shortages and power cuts as the Kariba hydro-plant has slashed generation.