Uganda has claimed that it is reaping the rewards of a new approach to gambling regulation as revenue from the sector continues to grow.
The country’s National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board revealed a near eight-fold increase in gaming industry non-tax revenue collection, shifting from Sh 1.14bn (£232,945) in the 2019/20 financial year to Sh 8.79bn (£1.8m) in FY 2024/25.
Meanwhile, annual revenue collection has grown from Sh 17.4bn (£3.6m) in FY 15/16 to Sh 323bn (£66m) in FY 24/25.
Such large increases have been largely credited to improved licensing and revised fee structures by the gaming board. However, the general upward trend in Uganda mirrors wider prosperity across Africa as iGaming continues to surge due to greater mobile adoption and the increased popularity of remote gaming among younger demographics.
Bernard Winyi, the acting Executive Director of Uganda’s gaming board, praised the implementation of a National Central Electronic Monitoring System, which he says has improved the visibility of operators and activities in the gambling industry.
Previously, operators made self-declarations of the money staked by individuals, introducing opportunities for complications to arise and reducing the visibility of operators seeking to minimise the economic success of their businesses.
“When we operationalised the system, the stakes grew to Shs 4.3trn in 2023/2024 and Shs 8.3trn in 2024/2025. In the financial year 2025/2026, we are projecting that gambling stakes will go up to Shs 14.1trn. This visibility has enabled us to improve on tax collection,” explained Winyi.
Black market challenge remains
Despite the success, Uganda’s Government has raised concerns regarding the presence of illicit gaming machines in the country.
While the board was praised for confiscating 1,418 gaming machines through targeted action, officials questioned how the regulator could prevent the importation of such machines into the country.
Winyi told the officials: “Most of these illegal machines do not pass through customs as gambling machines, but as spare parts for computers like motherboards that are exempt from tax. They later get assembled into complete machines.”
Going forward, curtailing the black market while supporting the regulated sector will form a key tenet of the regulatory board, which was inaugurated in August 2025 and tasked with tightening oversight while tackling concerns related to gambling-related harms and illegal operators.
