Tanzania’s sports betting sector set for continued growth

In Tanzania, taxes generated from gambling are expected to rise by 18 per cent in Fiscal Year 2017/2018.

Tanzania.- According to G3Newswire, the East African country’s regulator for sports gaming, the Gaming Board of Tanzania (GBT), estimates that from the expected growth, US$ 17.3M up from the US$ 14.9M collected in the prior fiscal year, could be collected by the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).

In the past three years, the number of gaming companies in Tanzania is said to have increased from 5 to 26. “We are optimistic of increased revenues as currently there are four foreign and local companies that have shown interest in Tanzania. All the processes have already been completed with only a few issues remaining to be ironed out. We’re optimistic that in the next year they will begin their operations,” said James Mbalwe, GBT acting director general.

Casino gambling led the pack until Fiscal Year 2015/16, but sports betting took over in 2016/17. Data from the Gaming Board of Tanzania shows that in the last fiscal year, sports betting posted US$ 17.9B in tax revenue compared to casino’s US$ 9.8B for the same period, followed by SMS lottery US$ 7.4B, Slots Operations US$ 1.5B and 40 Machine Site US$ 278.8M.

However, Mbalwe was reportedly quick to make mention that casino gaming was faring well in the market notwithstanding the exponential growth in sports betting, according to the news agency.

With a combined population of 1.26 billion people, Africa is the world’s second most-populous continent and gambling is becoming a popular activity there. Tanzania is one of the countries where gambling’s popularity has skyrocketed and has become a significant source of government revenue.