The fluctuation of excise duty tax on the gambling industry has been a key topic across Africa in the past year.
In Zambia, there has been continued rallying against the touted introduction of a 10% excise duty tax on all betting stakes.
It prompted an application from BetPawa and Betway to halt the tax, however, this was dismissed by the country’s Constitutional Court.
At the heart of the appeal against the introduction of the tax were claims that it breached section 7 of the customs Excise (Amendment) Act No. 11 of 2025. Objections included an alleged lack of transparency, inadequate public consultation, and severe economic impact.
Furthermore, they also claimed that it was excessive, ambiguous, unimplementable and financially unsustainable, warning that it could have key impacts on their ability to operate in the country in the future.
Nonetheless, the Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) underpinned that the excise duty stems from consumption by bettors and not operators, affirming that it had engaged with stakeholders on the decision.
Following this, the operators looked to implement an interim injunction to stop enforcement of the excise duty pending the full hearing of their constitutional petition.
ZRA countered that the tax was lawful and implementable in its current form. The organisation emphasised that any interference at this stage would be an encroachment on its statutory duty.
Seemingly cementing a future for excise duty in Zambia, the Court decided that the petitioners failed to demonstrate a sufficiently serious constitutional issue to justify suspending the law at this stage.
Of note in Zambia is the 10% figure, which is intriguing as it sits between Kenya’s previous 15% threshold and the figure it was recently lowered to, 5%.
When lowering the levels of tax, Kenya also undertook a subtle but significant change in the way it takes excise duty, instead of taxing when a bet is placed, like Zambia, they opted to take it at the point in which funds are transferred from a mobile‐money wallet to a betting account.
The country’s chairman of the Finance Committee, MP Kimani Kuria, said: “When you are placing a bet, the current taxation regime is that when you have money in your mobile money account and then you transfer that money to the wallet of a betting company, the time of charging excise duty is when you place a bet.
“There are so many entities operating virtually, some outside the country from which we are not able to get this excise duty from them. This now means that every time a Kenyan transfers money from their mobile wallet to the wallet of the betting company, then that’s the time the excise duty is paid.”
It underpins that emerging markets are eyeing flexible measures in the way that they gain the maximum economic uplift from the gambling sector.
Whilst the two African markets are taking alternative strategies to the implementation of excise duty, both clearly view it as a strong avenue to elevating tax intake from the gambling industry.
If market forecasts are to be believed, the decision of Kenya to decrease its excise duty tax could be set to pay off as they are predicted to see an uplift in gaming tax intake. Zambia will provide an interesting comparison as time tests whether the implementation of excise duty has an overall benefit to the economy and the gambling sector’s output.
Rates in Nigeria also frame Zambia as setting a relatively high bar for excise duty tax. In Nigeria, a withholding tax of 5% on winnings for residents and 15% for non-residents has been introduced.
The need to ensure market nuances are met while at the same time retaining simplicity can’t be understated when it comes to a complex tax structure. However, critics right now argue that Zambia is lacking this as it heads towards a straight 10% rate.
In a recent interview with iGaming Expert, Christopher Coyne, Co-Founder and CEO of 888 Africa shared his trepidation that Zambia would take a lead from Kenya in terms of taxation rates, subsequently making it less appealing for operator expansion.
In terms of markets that present an opportunity, Coyne predicted that in five years, Nigeria will grow to become a giant, adding that Egypt has huge potential should it regulate in the coming years.
For many, Malawi remains one of the most alluring markets, following its drastic shift in gaming tax from 20% to 5%, in 2023.
