{"id":15322,"date":"2025-12-19T08:42:25","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T11:42:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/?p=15322"},"modified":"2026-04-19T10:32:43","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:32:43","slug":"eswatini-reports-gambling-revenue-of-e26-1m-in-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/eswatini-reports-gambling-revenue-of-e26-1m-in-2025","title":{"rendered":"Eswatini reports gambling revenue of E26.1m in 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The revenue comes from levies and fees paid by approved gambling companies and goes toward government programmes in tourism and environmental affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Eswatini.- Eswatini has recorded gambling revenue of\u202fE26.1m<\/strong> (\u20ac1.32m) in\u202f2025 from licensed operators. The information was disclosed by Jane\u202fSimelane<\/strong>, Minster of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, while presenting an industry update to members of parliament at the House of Assembly\u2019s final sitting of the year in Mbabane<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Simelane, the revenue comes from levies and fees paid by approved gambling companies and goes toward government programmes in tourism and environmental affairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Simelane said the ministry is working on new gaming control regulations to improve oversight of the sector. The rules will focus on responsible gambling practices suited to Eswatini\u2019s population and economy. She noted: \u201cWe continue to work on the regulations. They will be finalised in the next two years, around\u202f2026\u202fto\u202f2027.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliament members welcomed the revenue update but expressed concerns about the lack of full regulations. Several called for a stop to new gambling licences until the rules are ready. Other lawmakers highlighted problems with online betting. Mbabane East MP\u202fWelcome\u202fDlamini<\/strong> pointed out that some online operators hold bookmaker licences meant only for horse and dog racing, not digital games. He said this mismatch creates gaps in oversight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Online betting continues to grow in Eswatini: earlier data reveals levies of more than\u202fE\u202f9\u202fmillion<\/a> (\u20ac453,000) in bookmaker levies, with quarterly collections showing a steady rise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the country weighs the financial benefits of gambling against social risks, the coming regulations will play a key role in shaping the industry\u2019s future and protecting citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n\t\t\tSee also:<\/span><\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\tSee also:<\/span> Tax hikes on online gambling sweep across Africa<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The revenue comes from levies and fees paid by approved gambling companies and goes toward government programmes in tourism and environmental affairs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2395,"featured_media":8877,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"is_press_release":false,"is_interview":false,"is_opinion":false,"focusai_summary":"Eswatini reported E26.1m (\u20ac1.32m) in gambling revenue for 2025 from licensed operators, contributing to government programs. The Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs is developing new gaming control regulations, expected by 2026-2027, to enhance sector oversight and responsible gambling. Parliamentarians expressed concerns regarding the current regulatory vacuum, particularly the misuse of bookmaker licenses for online digital games, and called for a moratorium on new licenses until comprehensive rules are established.","focusai_entities":"Jane Simelane, Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs, House of Assembly, Welcome Dlamini, Parliament","focusai_location":"Eswatini, Mbabane","focusai_target_profile":"ceo_executive (0.9), regulator (1.0), compliance_legal (0.9), operator_casino (0.9), affiliate_publisher (0.7), investor_analyst (0.9), supplier_vendor (0.8), journalist_researcher (1.0)","focusai_suggestions":[{"label":"Regulatory Timeline Impact","query":"What specific measures will the Ministry of Tourism and Environmental Affairs implement to mitigate the operational and market entry risks for licensed operators during the two-year period until the new gaming control regulations are finalized?"},{"label":"Online Licensing Clarity","query":"How will the forthcoming gaming control regulations specifically address the current discrepancy where bookmaker licenses are being utilized for digital games, and what is the projected impact on existing online operators?"}],"footnotes":""},"categories":[60022,60011],"tags":[60735,60074,60736],"class_list":["post-15322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance-news","category-south-africa","tag-gambling-revenue","tag-online-betting","tag-regulations"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2395"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15322"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15404,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15322\/revisions\/15404"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8877"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/focusgn.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}