Tanzania's gambling sector paid about $116 million in taxes for the financial year that ended in June 2026, equal to 307.8 billion Tanzanian shillings at the exchange rate of October 30. Gaming Board of Tanzania Director General James Mbalwe said so.
He linked the growth to wider access to smartphones and digital payments. According to him, land-based casinos used to bring in most of the revenue, followed by slot machines, but now online games lead.
The proposed 5% excise duty on bets has not been introduced. "The 5% excise is on hold, so the status quo remains," Mbalwe said.
The board continues raids against illegal gaming machines. Over the last financial year, more than 3,000 machines were seized, most of which, according to Mbalwe, were made and operated by Chinese citizens. The number of registered cases has fallen, but offenders have moved to remote areas. The board is counting on help from local authorities.
Self-exclusion currently works manually: players' data and photos are sent to operators, and Mbalwe considers the process inadequate. The board plans a central electronic database for real-time monitoring, which it wants to procure through a public-private partnership. No timeline or budget has been named.
In Mbalwe's assessment, the current Gaming Act (Chapter 41) does little to cover responsible gambling and player protection: it bans participation by minors, but lacks a detailed system of measures. To deal with unlicensed online platforms, the board works with the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority, cybercrime police and mobile companies to identify payment aggregators.
Tanzania will host the Gaming Regulatory Africa Forum in 2027. The board wants to put illegal online operations, taxation of platform providers and approaches to taxing the industry on the agenda. Mbalwe named the priorities for the next 12 months: electronic monitoring to collect taxes and the fight against illegal operators.
