DRC’s $1.7bn igaming market booms, offering huge opportunity for operators amid regulatory gaps
Rapid mobile adoption and regulatory uncertainty are fuelling growth, making the DRC a key destination for Africa’s online gambling operators.
DRC.- The Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) igaming market is surging, generating an estimated $1.7bn in revenue, yet the government collects only $1m. Rapid mobile adoption and a fragmented regulatory landscape are creating one of Africa’s most promising online gambling opportunities for operators.
Industry figures say the current environment reflects both enormous potential and structural uncertainty. Louis Richard Tshimbalanga, a prominent CEO and head of Kinshasa-based igaming consultancy Congoflex Sarl as well as Country Manager for PstBet Congo, notes that while the market’s scale is large, its contours are difficult to quantify.
“It is a mighty river surging with immense wealth, but its banks are so blurred that no one can accurately measure the gold flowing through it,” said Tshimbalanga, according to IGB.
Despite the lack of a unified regulator, market activity continues to accelerate. “The sector is advancing vigorously like a vehicle on autopilot, but without the clear, defined hands of a true regulator at the wheel,” Tshimbalanga added, underscoring how operators currently enjoy significant freedom to innovate and expand services.
The scale of the market, combined with limited oversight, has attracted operators eager to establish a foothold in what is increasingly viewed as one of Africa’s most promising online gambling destinations. However, much-publicised reforms, including a new bill and an “alleged centralised monitoring system” for every igaming operation, are still widely viewed as incomplete – or, according to some insiders, effectively non-existent.
Mobile money fuels growth amid regulatory gaps
Mobile money platforms such as Mpesa, AirtelMoney, OrangeMoney and AfricellMoney have been central to the market’s growth, enabling nationwide participation and easy access to betting products. Tshimbalanga added: “This absence of a precise framework creates a unique stage where operators move with significant freedom; not out of defiance, but simply because the rulebook has yet to be definitively written.”
The lack of formal oversight has also affected tax collection. While the state currently receives only a fraction of potential revenue, operators continue to generate significant returns. A CEO of a prominent operator in the DRC said: “Operators do pay, yes, but they pay whatever suits them. In other words, we effectively pay what benefits us.”
The CEO highlighted the flexibility that currently defines the market and added: “For some, seven per cent GGR might be $100, for others, seven per cent might be $100,000; it all depends on the operator’s good faith.”
Government efforts to introduce digital betting accounts and tax-withholding mechanisms aim to improve transparency. Another Source said: “It is even more complicated for the Ministry since it cannot directly target mobile money via operators, which is their main source of income”, reflecting the ongoing operational challenges faced by regulators.
Tshimbalanga added: “How can you manage what you can’t even measure? The problem is that the 2020 law still awaits its implementing decree to specify the concrete conditions for data collection and sharing.”
