1 Ethiopia
Ethiopia is the second most populous country in Africa after Nigeria and is
now Africa’s fastest-growing economy after a decades-long reform which has seen the country overcome years of
economic upheaval and famine during the 1980s. On average Ethiopia has recorded a nine per cent economic growth for more than ten years. Te
government has liberalised the economy and privatised state-owned companies but the economy of Ethiopia is expected to shrink between 5.6 to 11 percent as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sports betting is a relatively new
industry as it only began in 2013 but sports betting shops have spread
quickly throughout the country on the back of the popularity of Premier
League football. Tere are now around 18 sports betting companies, most of
which were granted licences in the past two years. Sports betting operators are licensed by the National Lottery
Administration (NLA), all of which have branches in the regional states. Each company operates around 30 sports
betting shops on average. However there is some backlash against the industry as the Ministry of Women, Children and Youth has recently announced its
decision to terminate gambling licenses. All the same operators are moving into the space. Locally based Bet251 plans to open 100 betting shops in Addis Ababa over the next six months.
2 Gambia In March 2015 the Gambian
government banned sports betting. Te ban on gambling was imposed by
former President Yahya Jammeh to end the ‘unethical and exploitative
businesses’ as well as to safeguard and promote the welfare of the Gambian people. However the current
government under President Adam
Barrow has reversed the law in an effort to create jobs and provide a boost to the economy. Te reversal, which was made via executive decree, is part of a much larger plan to modernise the
nation’s economy. Although there are no official statistics, according to local press the gambling industry is one of the highest employers in the country. Te decision is part of the government’s plans to transform the Gambia into an attractive hub for investors and to create employment opportunities.
3 Namibia
While there are no licensed sports betting parlours in Namibia this is
likely to change soon. In 2018 Tourism minister Pohamba Shifeta put forward a draft law that would regulate the
gambling industry. New laws would put the industry under the control of a new state-owned Gambling Board. Te
Gambling Board would be responsible for the regulation of 260 licensed slot machine operators (six casinos), (254
slot parlours), as well as issue different licences for casinos, gambling houses and bookmakers.
In February this year the Ministry of Environment and Tourism started
conducting nationwide inspections of all gambling and casino operations in order to create a database of licensed and unlicensed businesses.
In Botswana the government has only recently enacted laws to cover land based sports betting shops. The gambling authority opened its doors in 2016 and was established by an act of parliament to replace the now-defunct Casino Control Board. While the industry is in its infancy Gambling Authority Chief Executive Thuli Johnson told stakeholders last year that the government would support the gaming industry as it would help boost the economy.
P54 NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA
4 Botswana
Botswana’s economy is set to contract dramatically amid the fallout from COVID-19, according to data
announced by the country’s finance ministry. Te Southern African
country’s GDP is expected to shrink by more than 13 per cent in the current
fiscal year. It is the largest contraction since the recession that followed the global financial crisis of of 2008.
In Botswana the government has only recently enacted laws to cover land based sports betting shops. Te
gambling authority opened its doors in 2016 and was established by an act of
parliament to replace the now-defunct Casino Control Board. While the industry is in its infancy Gambling
Authority Chief Executive Tuli Johnson told stakeholders last year that the
government would support the gaming industry as it would help boost the economy.
In April 2019 the Gambling Authority
started the first of their ten towns tour across the country geared at educating the general public about the Gambling Authority’s mandate, future economic opportunities generated by the new
gambling industry, as well as cautioning the public against consequences of
illegal gambling. Sports betting licences will be granted for ten years
Johnson recently announced that the
agency’s role is to facilitate the growth of the gaming industry adding that the organisation had been granted approval by the Minister of Investment, Trade, and Industry to issue national lottery license, casino licenses in Maun,
Kasane, Palapye and Gaborone, as well as sports betting and bingo.
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