GAMING FOR AFRICA Gaming For Africa
Casino International’s Africa partner is the excellent Gaming For Africa magazine, bringing you the continent’s latest developments.
Botswana Aims to Boost Job Creation with New Gambling Licences
The Gambling Authority of Botswana’s recent publication of invitations for new gaming license applications for betting, bingo, and limited payout machines, before rolling out more casino licenses in the coming years is in keepeing with the Authority’s responsibility of contributing to Botswana’s transformational agenda and socio-economic development by diversifying the gaming industry. According to Peter Kesitilwe, Acting Chief
Executive Offi cer (CEO) at the Gambling Authority, there is huge potential to develop Botswana’s gambling and gaming industry as it is still nascent. “The growth of online gaming and betting is a
crucial factor pushing the expansion of the worldwide gambling business. As we endeavor to signifi cantly alter Botswana’s gambling industry through safe gaming, this presents latent value chain opportunities,” he said. Figures gleaned from the Gambling
Authority’s 2021-22 Annual Report indicate that the industry is showing signs of recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, generating P173-million (approx. US$12,8million) in 2022 from P211-million (approx. US$15,6million)in 2020. Globally, the gambling market is projected to grow to US$876 billion by 2026, with lottery and betting as the most promising segments. In 2018-19, casinos accounted for 71 percent of revenue generated by the South African gambling industry, followed by betting at 13.3 percent and bingo at 6.2 percent. Fast forward to 2020, online sports betting accounts for 43.8 percent of the market while the contribution of casinos has drastically dropped to 43.1 percent. According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, a phenomenal growth is observed in online gaming and has been attributed to the convenience it offers. “Online casinos have made it easier for
punters to bet wherever they are via their mobile phones or computers. It also helps maintain privacy, which many punters value greatly,” reads the PwC report. Furthermore, online gambling sites offer a wider variety of games and betting options than
26 JUNE 2023 Peter Kesitilwe
traditional casinos, giving players more choices and opportunities to win. While the Covid – 19 pandemic has led players away from traditional casinos, technology has fast tracked their transition to online gambling. The online gambling market is therefore projected to worth more than US$127-billion by 2027, with Africa claiming an increasing proportion of that market in the coming years. With its population of about 1.4-billion,
mostly young people, Africa is an attractive market with huge potential for growth. Its recent economic expansion and major investments in technology also position Africa as the future headquarters of online gaming. Offi cial statistics indicate that the mobile
telephony subscriptions in Botswana stood at just over 4.2-million in 2022. Further, mobile tele-density stood at 210 percent while mobile broadband penetration increased by seven percent to 2.4-million as at March 2022. The phenomenal growth of online gambling
has also been attributed to Africa’s major progress in, and love of, big sports such as football, basketball, cricket, rugby, cycling and athletics. In conclusion, Kesitilwe explained that the
new gambling licenses are expected to create more jobs, boost the technology sector and generate much needed tax revenue for government.
New Ugandan Bill to Impose 30% Gaming Tax
Uganda’s Parliament has passed the Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill, 2023 that will revise the existing tax of 20 percent under the existing law to 30 percent for a gaming activity. Clause 48(1) of the Lotteries and Gaming Act,
2016 states that ‘an operator of a casino, gaming or betting activity issued with a licence under this Act shall, in addition to taxes prescribed by law, pay a gaming tax at the rate prescribed in Schedule 4’. Schedule 4 of the existing law prescribes the
rate of tax as 20 percent of the total amount of money staked, less the pay outs/winnings, for the period of fi ling returns. While presenting a report on the Bill in ealry May
2023, the Deputy Chairperson of the Finance Committee, Jane Pacutho said the 20 percent tax rate will be maintained on sports betting. She added that there are multiple start and stop
points within some games which make it hard to enforce the tax point for winnings, including punter sessions for games like roulettes, poker and slots. “Consequently, casinos are instead using the
end of day reconciliations to account for withholding tax which would only be on the days when they have made losses. Such an occurrence is highly unlikely for a casino because betting/ gaming companies are always winning,” reads the committee report in part. The committee emphasized the need to adjust
the current policy and ensure the tax is only imposed on winnings and not the staked amounts. “To plug this revenue leakage, the measure
proposes to remove the 15 percent withholding tax on payments for winnings of gaming and instead increase the gaming tax to a rate of 30 percent across the gaming sector,” Pacutho said.
Jane Pacutho
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