NEWS ON AFRICAN GAMBLING INDUSTRY

GHANA

The Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) is set to commence electronic-commerce, gaming and bet taxes in April 2022. There are currently 33 sports betting companies duly registered with the Gaming Commission and 8 legal casinos in the country.

According to the assistant Commissioner of GRA, Dr. Martin Yamborigya as reported by pulse; the activities of the gaming and bet companies have increased over the years and thus their operations needed to be taxed as they are expected to contribute to the government’s revenue. They are working with the Gaming Commission of Ghana and the gaming and betting operators, to ensure that the right taxes are paid.

The Commissioner-General of GRA, Rev. Dr. Ammishaddai Owusu-Amoah equally stated that the Authority will be vigorous in its efforts to tax players in the e-commerce market. He however, made the assurance that the introduction of these taxes, coupled with digitization initiatives and the introduction of electronic transaction levy would complement efforts in achieving the ¢80.3 billion ($10.7 billion) revenue target for 2022.

Source: www.yogonet.com

SENEGAL

Tier-one operator, PMU has joined forces with the Senegalese National Lottery (Lonase) to allow bettors in the country to bet on the same horse races and with the same payouts as PMU’s customers in France, powered by Honore’s cutting-edge platform and sportsbook offering.

Honore Gaming has emerged as a leading provider of turnkey sportsbook solutions to operators targeting French-speaking countries across the fast-growing African market.

Its omnichannel solution covers retail and online with a powerful back office where operators can manage all activity. Its platform is also fully customizable to ensure that operators will not only meet the exact needs of players in the gaming market but also stand out from their rivals in the game.

KENYA

The Kenyan Treasury as proposed in their Financial Bill 2022, plans to increase digital tax service (DST), of the gross value of online transactions of foreign tech giants, in the financial year starting July 2022; from the current 1.5 percent to 3%.

The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) has identified foreign firms like Amazon, Netflix, Twitter and PayPal, which derive income in Kenya through digital marketplaces — selling exclusively online or providing platforms for such deals; as significant drivers of tax receipts in a highly digitalizing global economy.

The KRA has projected gross revenue to be generated by foreign firms in Kenya’s digital marketplace, to be at about Sh926 billion. The tax is levied on the sale of e-books, movies, music, games, and other digital content and applies to foreign companies.

Kenya was one of the countries, alongside Nigeria, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka that did not sign on to the 15% global minimum corporate tax under the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Agreement.

Kenya first introduced digital service tax (dst) in January, 2021 to target revenues made by residents and non-resident firms selling products online, but it was later amended to apply solely to foreign (non-resident) companies. Their refusal to vote for the corporate tax pact, might stem from the fact that some clauses on the deal might be a contradiction which will necessitate them to jettison DST.

Uganda

According to Ugandan Media outlets, some lawmakers from the Committee on Finance, in the African nation of Uganda has proposed a ban on daytime sportsbetting.  They opine that sportsbooks operations should be a part-time set-up, which would start from 5 PM and end at around 2 AM. This according to the concerned lawmakers will make the youths more productive and stop them from engaging in the betting from as early as 10.am

The proposal gathered dissenting arguments, from some lawmakers who feel that time limitation will impact negatively on the gambling industry as time of events betted on differ across the globe mostly due to global time difference. Also according to report, one lawmaker expressed the view that limiting time does not equate limiting interest but only shortens it and it might adversely affect family life as bettors will forego family time for evenings spent on betting.

There’s also the issue of enforcement. Trying to limit when sportsbooks can accept bets would be a monumental and possibly insurmountable challenge.

One of the issues being addressed by the Ugandan gaming regulator, Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board (LGRB) is that of time limitation. According to LGRB CEO, Denis Ngabirano, who seems to show support for the proposal, the Commission is working on new rules and regulations that will hopefully clean up their gaming industry, and play time is one of the issues they intend to amend.

LGRB has also requested US$567,000 extra to onboard an electronic monitoring system to add safeguards to the legal betting industry and help generate more revenue for the country and help mitigate money laundering.

Source: www.casino.org

TANZANIA

Tanzania’s gaming business has experienced tremendous growth and has established itself as an important industry that contributes significantly to the country’s GDP.

As of 2022, Sportsbetting in Tanzania has surpassed retail casinos as the country’s main gaming activity in terms of gross gaming revenue (GGR). The GGR generated by Sports betting exceeded TZS 72 billion in the financial year 2021/2022, with gaming tax income of around TZS 20 billion.

This surge in growth can be attributed to high level of mobile and internet penetration and the widespread of usage of mobile money services. Also increase in youth population has also contributed to the expansion in the industry.

Online Casinos

The GGR for the country’s online casino, also increased by 97% from the previous year, to TZS 13.8 billion, as more operators integrate online casinos into their platforms, and more players acclimatize to the online form of gaming. The rapid expansion of online casinos can also be attributed to recent technology advancements and extensive use of mobile phones.

Tanzania’s internet user base has continuously grown, from seven million in 2012 to over 45 million in 2022. Tanzania’s internet penetration trend is estimated to be 66% in December 2022. Because of the rise in domestic internet users, gaming companies that provide online services, now have a higher consumer base, to draw from.

Source: www.africafeeds.com

GAMBIA

In 2015, Gambia completely banned all gambling activities. However, in 2017, casinos, lotteries and betting centers resumed operations in Gambia due to a ‘decree’ by the President, Adama Barrow, which lifted the ban on gambling.

Generally, most forms of online gambling are not regulated as no specific law was issued after the ban was lifted.  However, online sports betting is considered to be legal due to the broad definition of betting which includes land-based as well as online versions.

The body responsible for the regulation of legalized gambling in Gambia; is the Gambia Revenue Authority. This body is responsible for supervising the work of the companies in the gambling sector and also for the granting of licenses.

Source: www.gamingzion.com