Tanzania Gaming License

Who regulates gambling in Tanzania?

The Gaming Board of Tanzania (GBT) regulates gambling in Tanzania. The Gaming Board of Tanzania was established under the Gaming Act and has operated since 1 July 2003. Section 7(2) mandates the Board to oversee, monitor and regulate gaming activities. A gambling license in Tanzania comes from no other body.

The Gaming Act (Cap. 41 R.E. 2023) sets the licence classes, the tax base and the offences. The Gaming Regulations, 2003 (GN No. 385) govern qualification, investigation, premises and fees, and the Board does not publish that instrument, so the Regulation numbers cited from it here follow the Board's own procedure document.

The Sports Betting Rules, 2016, made under section 7(2)(h) of the Gaming Act, cover betting conduct. The Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 (GN No. 478T) are the operative rulebook for anything online, from application contents to KYC, responsible gaming and advertising.

Watch the citation. The Gaming Board of Tanzania published procedure document refers twice to "the Gaming Act, Cap. 40". The correct citation is Cap. 41, and section numbering moved between revised editions: the licence classes now sit in section 28, carrying a marginal note reading "s. 26" from the earlier edition. Advisers quoting section 26 are quoting a superseded numbering.

The Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) administers gaming tax and receives the returns. BRELA registers the company. The Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) supervises anti-money-laundering reporting under the Anti-Money Laundering Act. Each of those three obligations survives the grant of a gaming licence, and the licensee discharges them separately.

Which gaming licence types does the Gaming Board of Tanzania issue?

The Gaming Board of Tanzania issues 31 licence types, grouped into Gaming Licences, Gaming Principal Licences, Employee Licences and Amusement permits. Section 28(1) of the Gaming Act (Cap. 41 R.E. 2023) lists 19 statutory types; the Board's own register expands these into the 31 positions an applicant actually selects from, including three separate online licences.

The grouping matters more than the count. An applicant does not pick a "casino licence" in the abstract. The choice is a position in a category, and the category determines who else in the business needs a licence.

Source: the Gaming Board of Tanzania licence-type register.

Two doors in this table are closed. Slot machine and route operation licences have been suspended to new applicants since a Gaming Board of Tanzania press release of 13 February 2023, while the Board completes an Electronic Monitoring System for slot operations. The Board reaffirmed the freeze by notice of 10 April 2026, so this is the position today rather than a three-year-old announcement. That freeze reaches the 40 Slot Machine Site, Shop Slot Operation and Bar Site Operation positions and the four slot-related Principal Licences.

Separately, item 14 of the Schedule to the Business Licensing (Prohibition of Business Activities for Non-Citizens) Order, 2025 prohibits "ownership or operation of gambling machines or devices, except within casino premises". The Order was made under section 14A(2) of the Business Licensing Act (Cap. 101), signed on 25 July 2025 and published as Government Notice No. 487A on 28 July 2025. Sports betting, casino, internet and lottery positions are unaffected and remain open to foreign-majority applicants. How the prohibition applies to a Tanzanian-incorporated company with foreign shareholders is read inconsistently by local firms, which matters here because that is exactly the structure this page describes, so take a written view before buying machines.

Is online gambling legal in Tanzania?

Online gambling is legal in Tanzania under a dedicated licence. The Gaming Board of Tanzania issues the Internet Casino Licence, the Internet Sports Betting Licence and Online Virtual Games as separate positions on its register, governed by the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 (GN No. 478T). No land-based licence extends to online play.

The consequence for structuring is direct. An operator running retail shops and a betting app in Tanzania needs the Sports Betting Licence and the Internet Sports Betting Licence, and a group running slot venues needs a Principal Licence For Sports Betting as a further, separate position. The register treats each of these as a separate authorisation.

Regulation 6 of the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 sets out the conditions the Board may impose on a licence. The wording is permissive, so this is the Board's menu rather than an automatic checklist:

• technical standards and the method of operating

• technical specifications for software and equipment

• an internal control system built to specification

• operation of a bank account with a local bank

• gaming devices or technology certified by accredited testing agents

• transmission of gaming transactions to the Gaming Regulatory Electronic Management System

• exclusion of anyone under 18

• deposit of a security bond with the Board

• promotion of responsible gaming

• restrictions on advertising

Two conditions in the same Regulations matter more to an operator than the tax rate, because they rule out the offshore pattern entirely. Regulation 9 requires the licensee's primary server to sit in Mainland Tanzania. It may be hosted abroad only with Board approval and only for a period the Board specifies, and for that period the licensee must run a replica server physically located in Mainland Tanzania, with the financial control system inside Mainland Tanzania as well. Regulation 12 then requires a physical administration centre in Tanzania Mainland staffed by at least one director and one key person, or more if the Board says so. There is no server-anywhere structure available here.

Territorial reach is the limit most often overstated. A Gaming Board of Tanzania licence authorises gaming in Mainland Tanzania. It is not an EU-style passport, it does not open other African markets, and it does not cover Zanzibar. An operator serving several countries needs a licence in each, or a lawful basis in each.

Who can apply for a Tanzania gaming licence?

Any company that meets Regulation 3 of the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 (GN No. 478T) may apply. The test has eight limbs. The applicant must never have been denied a gaming licence in this or any other jurisdiction, must never have had one suspended or revoked anywhere, must never have withdrawn an application anywhere for any reason, must hold premises the Gaming Board of Tanzania deems suitable, must comply with the Act and the Regulations, must carry no conviction for an offence involving fraud or dishonesty, must prove financing adequate to pay all obligations and provide working capital, and must hold technology and equipment tested and certified by an accredited institution.

Read the first two conditions closely, because they are stricter than the equivalent tests elsewhere. A refused or withdrawn application in any other jurisdiction, at any time, is disqualifying on the face of the Regulation. So is a suspension or revocation anywhere, not only in Tanzania. Disclosure of prior applications therefore has to be full and accurate before filing, not corrected afterwards.

Refusal also starts a waiting period. Section 32 of the Gaming Act bars anyone holding an ownership interest of five percent or more in a refused applicant from reapplying for at least one year from the refusal, and for at least three years after a second refusal. A thin or rushed filing costs more than the application fee.

Premises suitability is assessed under Regulation 19, and the Gaming Board of Tanzania advises applicants to identify premises and seek clarification first, because some premises are unsuitable for gaming. The seventh limb of Regulation 3 is the money test: proof of adequate financing available to pay all obligations and to provide adequate working capital to finance the gaming operations. The eighth is technical: technology and equipment tested and certified by an accredited institution. Beyond the Regulation, the Board weighs tax history, technical capability, creditworthiness and business reputation during vetting.

Local Company and Foreign Company are defined by shareholder citizenship, not by place of incorporation alone. In the Gaming Board of Tanzania published procedure, a Local Company is a company incorporated in Tanzania whose majority shareholders are citizens of Tanzania. A Foreign Company is a company incorporated outside Tanzania, or incorporated in Tanzania but whose majority shareholders are not citizens of Tanzania. A Tanzanian-registered subsidiary of a foreign group is therefore a Foreign Company, and the higher capital tier applies.

What is the minimum investment capital for a Tanzania gaming licence?

Minimum investment capital is USD 300,000 for a Local Company and USD 500,000 for a Foreign Company, set by the Gaming Board of Tanzania in its published Procedure for Obtaining Gaming Licence in Tanzania. Section 14(4) separately conditions a commercial gaming undertaking licence on Tanzanian citizens holding at least 5% of paid-up share capital.

The two requirements are independent and both apply. Section 14(4) permits the Board to grant a gaming licence for commercial gaming undertakings "upon satisfaction that not less than five percent of the applicant's paid up share capital are owned by Tanzanian citizens". Foreign majority ownership is allowed. Wholly foreign ownership leaves the Board unable to make that finding, so the cap table has to carry a Tanzanian citizen before filing.

Minimum investment capital is not a fee. Nothing is paid to the Gaming Board of Tanzania under this heading, and the published procedure states the two amounts without itemising what they cover.

What the Board tests is financing capacity. Regulation 3 requires proof of financing adequate to pay all obligations and to provide working capital, and Regulation 4(2)(d) of the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 requires evidence of sufficient finance capital available for implementation of the project. The application fee, the annual licence fee, the investigation deposit, the security bond and laboratory testing are separate cash calls, and the applicant has to show it can fund those as well.

Banking sits on the Board's list of licence conditions. Regulation 6(d) of the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 names operation of a bank account with a local bank. On the player side, Regulation 16(1) bars anyone from playing until they have nominated an account with an authorised bank, financial institution or mobile network operator, and Regulation 16(5) fixes the payment methods a licensee may accept, closing with any other method the Board approves.

How much does a Tanzania gaming licence cost?

No public fee schedule exists. Section 21 of the Gaming Act sets the licence fee as "a fee as may be prescribed by the Board", the amounts sit in the First Schedule to the Gaming Regulations, 2003, and the Gaming Board of Tanzania fees page publishes nothing. The verifiable floor is the USD 300,000 or USD 500,000 capital requirement.

A Tanzania gaming license cost is therefore built from six components, only one of which can be verified from public sources today.

Regulation 5(12) of the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 issues the certificate of suitability after investigation on payment of TZS 1,000,000, which is the single gaming fee a gazetted instrument actually names. Penalties are a separate matter and are gazetted: Regulation 29(b) allows a fine of TZS 500,000 for each day a licensee fails to report changes, and Regulation 55 sets a fine of up to TZS 1,000,000, or imprisonment of not less than a year, for knowingly filing a false or misleading financial statement. Beyond that, practitioner guides circulate annual licence-fee figures for Tanzania that are not traceable to a current gazetted First Schedule and are not published by the Gaming Board of Tanzania. This page does not restate them. Confirm the current tariff with the Board before committing to a budget.

The uncapped item needs its own line in the budget. The Board sets the investigation deposit and tops it up on demand, and the file may be suspended until a top-up arrives, so the investigation is both a cost line and a schedule risk. Modelling it as a fixed fee is how Tanzania budgets go wrong.

What taxes apply to licensed gaming operators in Tanzania?

Licensed operators in Tanzania pay gaming tax on gross gaming revenue at 25% for sports betting and internet casino, 18% weekly for land-based casino and 20% for the national lottery, under section 33 and the Second Schedule. A separate 15% gaming tax applies to player winnings. The Tanzania Revenue Authority administers both.

Rates below are as of September 2026, under the Gaming Act (Cap. 41 R.E. 2023) as amended by the Finance Act, 2025 and the Finance Act, 2026. Section 33(4) sets the cycle: the licensee files a return and pays the tax due to the Commissioner on or before the seventh day of every month, for the preceding month.

Tax on player winnings is 15%. Section 34(1) imposes a gaming tax of fifteen percent on the amount or value of winnings. The Finance Act, 2025 had set category rates in section 34(2) of 13% for land-based casino and 12% for sports betting.

The Finance Act, 2026 deleted subsection (2) outright and replaced it with a proviso to subsection (1), directing 7% of amounts collected from land-based casino and 13% of amounts collected from sports betting to the AIDS Trust Fund (70%) and the Universal Health Insurance Fund (30%). With the category rates removed, the fifteen percent in subsection (1) is what remains.

Guides still quoting 12% and 13% are quoting the position before 1 July 2026. Confirm the operative rate with the Tanzania Revenue Authority before pricing a payout engine.

Winnings tax is withheld at payout and is a final tax: section 34 provides that the amount or value of winnings subjected to gaming tax on winnings is not liable to income tax. The withheld tax is filed and remitted to the Commissioner electronically on or before the seventh day of the month following payment of the winning.

Advertising money carries a second charge. Section 56 of the Finance Act, 2025 amended section 106(1)(d) of the Income Tax Act (Cap. 332) to add "commission for gaming advertisement or promotion" to the payments caught by withholding tax. Affiliate and marketing commissions paid out of a Tanzanian licensed entity therefore fall inside that provision. The Finance Act sets no rate for the new category, so confirm the applicable withholding rate with the Tanzania Revenue Authority.

A levy sits on top of the tax. Regulation 54(1) of the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 provides that in addition to the tax payable under the Act, each licensee pays a gaming levy on every licensed gaming activity, determined by the Board as prescribed in the First Schedule to the Gaming Regulations. That Schedule is not published, so the levy is a budget line with no public number.

Did Tanzania introduce a 5% excise duty on betting stakes in 2026?

No. The 2026/27 budget speech of 11 June 2026 proposed a 5% excise duty on the value of every bet, but the enacted Finance Act, 2026 (Act No. 2 of 2026, gazetted 30 June 2026) contains no such duty. Part VII amends only section 34 of the Gaming Act, on revenue allocation.

What was proposed. The 2026/27 budget speech of 11 June 2026 listed a new 5% excise duty on "the value of bets in gambling activities, including land based or online/internet sports betting, land based or online/internet casino gaming, forty machine slot games and virtual games operations". Professional-services digests of the speech record the item as new, at 5%, against no previous rate.

What was enacted. The Finance Act, 2026 was published as Act Supplement No. 2 to the Special Gazette of the United Republic of Tanzania No. 8 Vol. 107, dated 30 June 2026.

Part VII is the only Part touching the Gaming Act, and it does one thing. Section 16(1) amends section 34 by adding a proviso allocating 7% of amounts collected from land-based casino and 13% of amounts collected from sports betting between the AIDS Trust Fund (70%) and the Universal Health Insurance Fund (30%), deleting subsection (2) and renumbering the rest. Part IV amends the Excise (Management and Tariff) Act (Cap. 147), and its Fourth Schedule changes carry no betting-stake item.

Read across the whole enacted Act, the word "betting" appears once, inside that allocation proviso. In Part IV and the Fourth Schedule, the parts that would carry an excise on bets, the words "stake", "gambling" and "wager" do not appear at all. A 5% excise on the value of bets is not part of Tanzanian law as of September 2026.

Why the confusion persists. Trade publications reported the measure as taking effect on 1 July 2026, based on the budget speech rather than the enacted text, and those articles are still circulating. Treat any adviser citing a live 5% stake tax for Tanzania as working from pre-enactment reporting. The proposal is a watch item for the next Finance Act, not a current cost.

How long does it take to get a Tanzania gaming licence?

Neither the Gaming Act nor the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 sets a deadline for the licence decision. The single fixed clock is Regulation 30(1): the Gaming Board of Tanzania decides a control system application within thirty days. Background investigation depth, deposit top-ups and laboratory certification set the real timeline.

The widely quoted "thirty days for a licence decision" appears to be that Regulation 30(1) control-system deadline, restated as though it applied to the licence itself. Three other thirty-day periods exist in the framework and are all different things. Regulation 28(1) requires the control system to be submitted thirty days before operations begin, section 16(2) of the Gaming Act requires a renewal application thirty days before a licence expires, and Regulation 62(2) gives the Board thirty days to determine a dispute between a player and a licensee.

The Board's own published procedure sets no decision deadline either, and it describes no temporary or provisional licence. The six-month temporary licence that some guides mention has no basis in the Gaming Act, in the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022 or in that procedure.

Three variables actually drive the calendar. Vetting under Regulation 7 and Regulation 5 expands with the number of directors, senior officers and shareholders, and with how far the source-of-funds trail reaches across jurisdictions. Funding of the investigation is a schedule item in its own right, because Regulation 5(8) permits the Board to suspend investigation of the application until a requested further deposit is received.

Certification with Gaming Laboratories International or BMM runs on the laboratory's queue and on how ready the platform is when it arrives.

Plan on responsiveness, not on a promised date. One stretch of the calendar is fixed and it is the last one: Regulation 28(1) requires the internal control system to be submitted thirty days before operations begin, and Regulation 30(1) gives the Board thirty days to decide that submission, so roughly a month sits between a complete control-system filing and a permitted launch.

Everything before that month is open-ended. A complete package at filing, a funded deposit and a certified platform compress it. A partial package, a lapsed deposit or an untested platform extend it, with no statutory limit on how far. Any single headline figure quoted for Tanzania is an estimate rather than a rule, and the Gaming Board of Tanzania does not publish one.

What are the ongoing compliance obligations for licensees?

Licensees in Tanzania file monthly returns and remit gaming tax, run KYC before any wager, report suspicious transactions to the Financial Intelligence Unit, maintain a local bank account, feed transactions to the Gaming Regulatory Electronic Management System, honour self-exclusion requests, and notify the Gaming Board of Tanzania of ownership and management changes.

Tax and reporting. Section 33(4) requires a return and payment of gaming tax on gross gaming revenue to the Commissioner on or before the seventh day of every month for the preceding month, and withheld winnings tax runs on the same seventh-day cycle. Regulation 54(3) then requires copies of the monthly gaming-tax return forms to reach the Board within seven days of payment.

Accounts. Regulation 52 requires annual financial statements audited by an accountant registered with the National Board of Accountants and Auditors, filed with the Board in three copies no later than one hundred and eighty days after the financial year closes. Regulation 53 lets the Board run its own periodic performance audits of a licensee's books.

Anti-money laundering. Gaming operators are reporting persons under the Anti-Money Laundering Act (Cap. 423), supervised by the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). Customer identification precedes the transaction, and suspicious transaction reports are filed electronically. The Gaming Board of Tanzania does not discharge that obligation for the licensee. Regulation 63 adds a separate duty to the Board: written notice within twenty-four hours of becoming aware of, or suspecting, a dishonest or unlawful act.

Player protection. Regulation 39 requires effective systems to keep anyone under eighteen out of gaming activity. Regulation 48 requires the control system to exclude a player from gaming at that player's request, to record and store the reason, and to hold the exclusion for six months unless the Board approves an earlier reinstatement.

The Gaming Board of Tanzania also runs the register itself. Through GLICA a person who is aware of a gambling problem can ask for their name to be added to the self-exclusion list, so exclusion is not only a licensee-side control. Regulation 49 covers information on player exclusion, Regulation 50 covers limits on bets or wagers, and a player account inactive for more than 180 days may be closed.

Inspection. Section 10(1) gives the Gaming Board of Tanzania powers of inspection and gaming audit, and section 83 lets a person authorised by the Board enter and inspect gaming premises without a warrant where an offence is suspected. Compliance history across all of the above is assessed at annual renewal.

Advertising. Regulation 56(1) prohibits advertising a licensed gaming activity without approval from the Board, and Regulation 56(2) requires the licensee to prepare an advertising code of practice covering advertising and public relations and submit it to the Board for approval.

Advantages of a Tanzania gaming licence

The Gaming Board of Tanzania has licensed continuously since 1 July 2003 and counted 62 licensed companies and more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs in its release of 4 September 2025. Behind that sit a published 31-position register, three dedicated online licence types, filing through GLICA, and two named testing laboratories.

Concrete advantages, each traceable to a source:

• A settled framework. The Gaming Board of Tanzania has regulated since 1 July 2003, under the Gaming Act (Cap. 41 R.E. 2023), the Gaming Regulations, 2003, the Sports Betting Rules, 2016 and the Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, 2022.

• Internet Casino, Internet Sports Betting and Online Virtual Games each sit on the register as a licence in their own right.

• Thirty-one positions across four categories let an applicant identify the right licence before spending anything.

• Applications, inspection and compliance all run through GLICA, the Board's own portal.

• Predictable certification. Gaming Laboratories International (GLI) and BMM are named by the Board, so testing does not begin with a negotiation over which laboratory is acceptable.

• A Foreign Company can hold a licence at the USD 500,000 capital tier, subject to the 5% Tanzanian citizen shareholding in section 14(4).

• Market scale. The Gaming Board of Tanzania reported its own collections at TZS 260.21 billion over the four years to 2025, against TZS 131.99 billion in the prior comparable period, and put the sector's total tax contribution at TZS 922.25 billion. The same release counts 62 licensed companies offering 8,549 betting games and more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs (GBT, 4 September 2025).

Everything above is checkable in the regulator's own published documents before an applicant commits capital, for a Mainland Tanzania authorisation.

Disadvantages and risks of a Tanzania gaming licence

Entry costs in Tanzania cannot be fully budgeted from public sources: the Gaming Board of Tanzania publishes no fee schedule, and the applicant funds an open-ended investigation deposit. Gaming tax reaches 25% of gross gaming revenue, winnings carry a further 15%, advertising needs prior approval, and the licence covers Mainland Tanzania only.

• USD 300,000 or USD 500,000 of demonstrable investment capital is high against offshore alternatives, and because it is capital, the licence cannot finance it.

• Costs that are not published. Section 21 leaves the licence fee to the Board, the First Schedule to the Gaming Regulations, 2003 is not published by the Board, and the Board's fees page carries no content. A budget has to be built by enquiry.

• An uncapped investigation cost. Investigation costs are as determined by the Board, plus the transport and office costs the Board runs up, funded by a deposit paid before work starts and topped up when the Board asks. Regulation 5(8) allows the file to be suspended until a top-up arrives.

• Gaming tax reaches 25% of gross gaming revenue, player winnings carry 15%, corporate income tax adds 30% under paragraph 3(1) of the First Schedule to the Income Tax Act (Cap. 332), and advertising commission attracts withholding tax on top.

• A 5% excise duty on the value of bets reached the 2026/27 budget and never became law. A later Finance Act can revive it.

• Advertising is gated. No gaming advertisement without prior Board approval, and the advertising code of practice itself needs approval.

• Slot machine and route operation licences are closed to new applicants, reaffirmed by Board notice on 10 April 2026, and non-citizens cannot own or operate gambling machines outside casino premises.

• The infrastructure has to be Tanzanian. Regulation 9 puts the primary server in Mainland Tanzania, allows hosting abroad only on Board approval and only against a local replica server with the financial control system onshore, and Regulation 12 requires a physical administration centre with at least one director and one key person in the country. That is staff, premises and hosting cost before the first bet.

• Currency and political risk. Revenue and winnings are shilling-denominated while the capital threshold is set in US dollars, so a model has to carry Tanzanian shilling depreciation against USD. On MGL's reading, currency is the dominant financial risk for a non-resident operator.

• The licence reaches Mainland Tanzania only. Zanzibar and every other market need their own basis.

Why choose MGL

MGL builds the Tanzania application around the two points that stall it: the background investigation and the systems certification. Work covers the Tanzanian company and 5% citizen shareholding, the source-of-funds package for every director, budgeting the investigation deposit, and coordinating certification with Gaming Laboratories International or BMM. MGL has delivered 300+ licences.

What that looks like in practice on a Tanzania file. The corporate structure is set before filing, so the Local Company or Foreign Company classification and the section 14(4) shareholding are decided rather than discovered.

Every director and senior officer is prepared for vetting: curriculum vitae, passport particulars, audited statements, tax clearance from the country of origin, two non-relative character statements, and a source-of-funds trail that survives questions. The investigation deposit is modelled as a funded schedule, because a lapsed deposit stops the file. Certification is booked against the platform's real readiness date. Local banking is arranged early, because the Board treats it as a licence condition.

How does Tanzania compare with other African gaming licences?

Tanzania publishes a capital floor of USD 300,000 or USD 500,000 directly in the regulator's own procedure. Kenya's Gambling Control Act 2025 sets no rate or capital figure in the Act itself. Tanzania and Nigeria both license online play, and South Africa prohibits interactive gambling under section 11 of the National Gambling Act.

Every row below is checked against the governing instrument for that jurisdiction as at September 2026. Where an instrument delegates a figure to regulations, or where regulations are gazetted but suspended by a court, the cell says so instead of quoting a number. Confirm each with its own regulator before relying on it.

The practical read for an operator choosing between them. Tanzania puts a published capital figure at the door, which makes the entry cost knowable even though the licence fee is not. Nigeria is licensed state by state rather than federally, so a national footprint means repeat applications. South Africa remains closed to online casino, whatever its betting market suggests.

Ghana charges a US$300,000 grant fee for an online sports betting licence wherever any part of the ownership is not Ghanaian, against US$100,000 for a wholly Ghanaian-owned applicant, under the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025.