Tanzania, an East African country officially known as the United Republic of Tanzania, faces the Indian Ocean and borders seven countries Burundi, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.
Tanzania has an estimated population of 59.73 million as of 2020, and 33.05 per cent living in urban areas, according to (UN) United Nations report.
However, gambling in Tanzania is a practice that existed even before the establishment of formal betting stations. At the same time, some people said informal bets were placed whenever the fierce old football rivals Yanga, and Simba FC squared up against each other in the early 1930s. Although pool betting and lotteries were the first recorded form of gambling, the only permitted form in the country, it was previously regulated under the Pools and Lotteries Act, 1967 and National Lotteries Act, 1974. In 1985, the government introduced a new economic reform that saw only the National Lottery as the only pivotal gambling activity in the country. It was formerly known as the defunct National Lottery.
Furthermore, in 1992 the economic liberalization policy and reform programs, specifically the enactment of the National Investment Promotions and Protection Act 1992 and the 1997 Tanzania Investment Act, changed the overall landscape in major investment projects and stimulated leisure and tourism-related investment in the country. The continued economic reform gave birth to the formulation of the National Policy on gaming activities and, subsequently, the enactment of the Gaming Act Cap. 41, led to the Gaming board of Tanzania.
In 2003, the Tanzanian government concluded that it needed to regulate the gambling sector more effectively with the enactment of the Gaming Act of Tanzania that established the body. Moreover, the Gaming Board of Tanzania oversees the Gambling Industry, issue licenses to operators, and collect taxes from gambling partners.
Tanzania is one of the African continent’s frontiers of the gambling sector; the common forms of gambling legal in the country are sports betting, casinos, poker, and lottery. The country was one of the first East African countries to regulate online gaming in 2012. In the same year, internet gaming regulations came into existence, and the first online gambling site licensed by Tanzanian authority, iplay8casin.com, began operation in 2013, and others followed suit.
Also, there has been evident growth in the gambling industry in the country, which continuous technological advancements have aided, and the increase in mobile phones and internet usage has helped in the spike in the gambling sector in the country. Live football and other televised sports have also helped increase the enthusiasm of the bettors.
In conclusion, sports betting is the most effective form of gambling in Tanzania, and it is reported according to statistics by the Tanzania Gaming Board (TGB) that there are over 3,584 betting shops around the country. A large chunk of those shops, 1,344, are located in the commercial city of Dar es Salaam. Betting is a significant source of revenue for the country, which gets to at least 1.4 billion Shilling monthly.
