Botswana’s gambling industry generated P1.3 billion in gross revenue for the 2025/26 financial period, a monumental surge from the P250 million recorded in the previous financial year.
Gambling Authority Botswana Chief Executive Officer Moruntshi Kemorwale disclosed these figures recently at the Francistown Business Expo, revealing that the sector currently employs 500 people.
Kemorwale noted that since Botswana liberalised the gambling sector in 2024, 1.5 million people have transitioned to betting on legal platforms.
According to the CEO, over 510,000 citizens were gambling on illicit websites prior to the licensing of regulated online betting. He indicated that within a mere six-month period, punters had spent over P850 million in these underground markets.
However, Kemorwale revealed that licensing has successfully drawn the bulk of unregulated players toward legal channels, leaving only 40,000 people active on illicit sites.
“Once the legal gambling age is reduced to 18, we expect to see more young people migrating from illegal sites to regulated and safer platforms. We believe that the 40,000 still betting on these illicit sites are largely those 18-year-olds.”
Kemorwale stated that once the pending legislation is signed into law, the Gambling Authority Botswana will exercise tighter oversight over young players. He highlighted that the organisation will offer counselling and ensure that youth gamble safely and strictly for entertainment.
Addressing problem gambling, the CEO revealed that Botswana currently maintains the lowest prevalence rate on the African continent.
According to Kemorwale, local problem gambling rates stand at 3.4 percent, making Botswana one of the few nations in Africa to successfully reduce addiction rates from a historical high of 5 percent.
“Our intention is to lower this rate to two percent by 2028. Over the past 10 years, the Gambling Authority Botswana has banned 500 individuals from participating in any form of betting or gambling,” Kemorwale added.
On a global scale, regulated gambling remains an enormous sector, generating US$643 billion in gross revenue in 2025, while the parallel unregulated market captured a staggering US$5.9 trillion during the same timeframe.
“This industry is one of the largest globally, and the illegal gambling market is three times bigger than its legal counterpart. Unregulated gambling forms a shadow economy of its own, ranking behind only the economies of the United States and China. Given that 78 percent of online gambling is unregulated, that is where a massive chunk of the money sits,” the CEO explained.
Kemorwale urged local entrepreneurs to design innovative interventions to pull the underground gambling sector into legal frameworks, emphasizing that flat bans fail to stop illicit operations.
“In Greece, 11,000 unlawful sites were shut down, alongside 25,000 in Brazil and 59 in Nigeria. Our neighbour, South Africa, lost R50 billion to illegal gambling operations,” the CEO warned.
Kemorwale concluded that the only effective approach is to regulate this multi-trillion-dollar industry to secure vital fiscal revenue for governments. He highlighted that in the SADC region, South Africa’s gross gambling revenue reached R74 billion from an overall R1.5 trillion wagered, creating 33,000 formal jobs.
