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Botswana is a land-locked nation located near the center of Africa. It borders South Africa to the south, Zimbabwe to the east and Namibia to the north and west.
Overview
Gambling practices in Botswana have been regulated as part of their legal system for some time now. Nevertheless, interested parties are still somewhat wary of the specifics of the laws, the types of gambling activities it covers and authorizes, and the penalties for the illicit gambling practices that remained outside this legal scope.
Nowadays, the people of Botswana are able to enjoy different land-based gambling activities. Such establishments have grown in size and number over the years, ultimately providing the Botswana gaming enthusiasts with a wide range of action-packed gambling formats and player rewards and bonuses, respectively.
Legal Gambling in Botswana
As mentioned earlier, the gambling industry in the country has been legally defined and regulated for quite some time now. Dating as far back as 1966, Botswana legislators had already set up the Lotteries and Betting Act, as well as the Casino Act a few years later, in 1971.
Under such legislation, law-makers established the first authoritative body with respect to the industry, the Casino Control Board.
At that time, the only forms of gambling eligible to the player pool included...
... charitable lotteries and bingo draws, as well as land-based casino games.
By 2011, legislators noted a need to expand the range of regulated gambling formats, as illegal activities of this type were taking place either way. Thus, they began drafts for a new law that was passed in 2012 as the new Gambling Act, and has been actively enforced since 1st of June, 2013.
This resulted in the establishment of the Botswana Gambling Authority which took over the authority from the Casino Control Board.
Consequently, over the years, it expanded the scope of legal gambling practices, and nowadays, Botswana residents are able to participate in:
- land-based casino games,
- non-casino gaming machines,
- lotteries,
- sports and horse race betting,
- bingo and totalisators, and
Each of these variants has been subject to a specific tax rate, allowing everyone in the country to note the benefits of such legislation. Thus, casinos pay a monthly 10% tax rate on gross wins, and the same is true of bingo establishments, only at an 8% rate. Gaming halls are charged 10% on gross wins, bookmakers – 6.5%, and ultimately totalisators are charged 2.5% of the gross win.
In order to match the progressive tendencies of the gambling industry, the Gambling Act (2012) has been subject to several amendments in the last few years. One key novelty was the advance in terms of monitoring and security, as well as additional measures to fight money laundering practices.
Licensing
Licensing used to be as vague a practice as the actual laws and regulations behind the establishments known as gambling shops. For a long time, operators provided services in the country without any licensing process. However, since the land-based gambling practices have been openly adopted, legislators needed to ensure some degree of legal compliance is prescribed as the industry standard.
Nowadays, legal gambling licenses are awarded to the full range of land-based gambling venues mentioned above. Interactive gambling, on the other hand, retains the status of ‘uncharted waters’ under the legal system, being neither prohibited nor permitted so far. Penalties are also lacking, both for offshore operators that are catering to the player pool, and the portion of the country residents engaging in such activities.
According to the latest regulatory changes in February, 2017, the authoritative body known as the Botswana Gambling Authority openly declared it would issue 6 more casino licenses and 1 for a lottery operator.
All seven refer to the land-based aspect of the industry that is regulated within the country, and they are expected to last for 10 years according to the latest information. Future licensed casino operators would need to pay 250.000 Botswana pula as an application fee, as well as a yearly charge of P100.000, while the new lottery operator would be charged P1m for each.
Player Protections
Considering the fact that the legal situation drastically differs between the land-based and online gambling marketplace, player rights and security is bound to differ just as much. Thus, on the one hand, players at land-based gambling establishments can address the relatively new authoritative body, file complaints and settle disputes with separate operators.
Contrary to this, interactive gambling is practically non-existent under the Botswana legal system, leaving players to handle issues and gamble at their own risk.
While no attempts have been made so far, analysts do expect to see some changes in regard to this in the nearby future. As soon as estimates show the economic benefits of legalizing online gambling in the country, proper legislation is bound to follow swiftly afterwards.
Further Reading
Nearby Restrictions
Namibia
South Africa
Zambia
Zimbabwe
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