Namibia has held regional validation workshops on proposed amendments to its Lotteries Regulations and Gambling and Gambling Activities Regulations, advancing a regulatory overhaul that followed a consultation period in March and April.
The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) held the validation workshops in October, according to reporting by iGaming Business. The Gambling Board of Namibia (GBN) would be responsible for implementing the reforms once they take effect.
That implementation question hangs over the process. Namibia’s environment, forestry and tourism minister, Indileni Daniel, told parliament that the GBN was not yet fully operational and that staff were still to be recruited.
What the amendments would change
The proposed amendments would introduce new operator fees intended to support stronger oversight through a central electronic monitoring system (CEMS). The proposals also include revised licensing and registration arrangements, among them an electronic software lottery licence intended to regulate digital and online gaming platforms.
MEFT deputy executive director Seimy Shidute said the amendments were needed to “adapt to the global developments, such as the digital innovation and emerging technological trends”.
GBN acting chief executive Johannes Erastus said the proposed structure had been informed by research and benchmarking. “Our laws, specifically the Act, require the boards to align with international best practices and to engage with regional and international colleagues and jurisdictions to inform and assist us in shaping the Namibian gambling space,” Erastus said, according to NBC.
Capacity concerns raised in parliament
Daniel said the lack of personnel was limiting consumer education and rehabilitation programmes. Staffing shortages have also affected the regulation of gambling houses, online platforms and the collection of fees and levies, according to reporting by Namibian Sun.
“Effective regulation, especially for online gambling, is currently a challenge at the moment, not only in Namibia but globally,” Daniel said. She added that no applications were being considered for activity prohibited under the current Act. The Gaming and Entertainment Control Act defines online games separately from bets placed through communication technology with bookmakers or totalisators.
A revenue line that has not delivered
Under the 2021 regulations, casino, gambling house, bar gambling and shebeen gambling licence holders pay a levy of 10% of net monthly income, with net income defined as gambling income less winnings paid out, excluding revenue from food, alcohol and other non-gambling sales. Totalisator licence holders are subject to a separate levy of 10% of gross monthly takings.
Collection has lagged. The Ministry of Finance’s 2023/24 accountability report listed a NAD5 million target for annual gambling income levies and recorded zero collection against that line. Daniel told parliament that NAD17 million had been collected to date for the Gambling Trust Fund. In February, she said weak oversight was costing Namibia revenue and exposing citizens to gambling-related social harm, according to the Namibia Press Agency.
In March, The Brief reported that the Namibia Revenue Agency had signed a cooperation agreement with the GBN to obtain data on gambling operators and winnings. “We are going to receive data on all players in the industry and compare it with our tax records. Where there is non-compliance, we will raise assessments to ensure the correct taxes are paid,” revenue commissioner Sam Shivute told the publication.
Monitoring and licensing infrastructure out to tender
The GBN has gone to market for a remote, real-time central electronic monitoring system under section 90 of the Gaming and Entertainment Control Act 2018, with the procurement also including an automated licensing platform. The deadline for both tenders has been extended to 5 November. The CEMS is intended to record and report gambling activity and transactions at licensed operations.
Separately, the GBN issued a public notice for a 15 October 2026 consultation workshop for bookmaker and totalisator licence applicants, covering licensing requirements and technical compliance for intended betting and wagering platforms.
Next steps
GBN chairperson Ben Shikongo used the Keetmanshoop workshop to press the case for formalisation. “We don’t just need to always do informal business. We need to be licensed so that we can have a genuine business,” he said. Shikongo also called on the government to “expedite the process of gazetting the fees, particularly those that were previously high”.
According to Shikongo, submissions from the regional workshops are expected to be consolidated in Windhoek before the proposals move to the next stage of the gazetting process. The final legal route will depend on the measures adopted: regulations would require gazetting, while any amendment to primary legislation would require the necessary parliamentary process.
For operators and suppliers assessing the market, the final text will determine how any new fees apply and how they interact with existing levies, and implementation will depend on whether the GBN can fill staffing gaps and build enforcement capacity. For now, the overhaul remains a set of proposals rather than an operational regime.
This article was produced with AI assistance and reviewed under the GamblingZine editorial verification process.
Sources
- Namibia advances gambling reform proposals amid regulator staffing concerns — Authoritative secondary source (published 2026-10-23)
Reporting verified against the sources above; retrieval timestamps are preserved in the editorial record.