An American company has claimed to have obtained a licence to grow marijuana in Kenya where the commodity is still illegal, the privately-owned Business Daily website reports.

"This is the first of several critical transactions that will transform [our company] into a relevant member of the burgeoning cannabis industry,” gushed GoIP Global Inc chairman Ike Sutton.

Mr Sutton says he met Kenyan officials to secure the deal, but the Kenyan government denied issuing any such licence.

"The lease term will be for 25 years and Kenya being on the Equator provides the best conditions for all-year round production," the chairman went on to say in the article.

While there is a trend towards legalisation in some parts of the US and Europe, progress has been much slower in African nations.

South Africa has the most liberal attitude perhaps, after its highest court legalised the use of cannabis by adults in private places.