An Overview of the Gaming Industry in Mozambique with Abu Ibrahim
Abu Ibrahim, Head of the Legal Department of the General Gaming Inspectorate of Mozambique, provided an overview of the gaming industry in Mozambique.
The conversation revealed that Mozambique regulates both online and land-based gaming for casinos, with all games offered by casinos to players being supervised by the gaming board.
“There are currently a total of 7 casinos in Mozambique and 23 betting companies, with most of them operating online,” said Mr. Abu. “At the moment, we are not licensing online casinos. The only online games that we are licensing is sports betting.”
Regarding taxation, Mr. Abu explained that operators are required to pay fees on Gross Gaming Revenues (GGR), in addition to paying another 10% tax after paying the players.
When asked about the executive structure for foreigners operating gaming operations in Mozambique, Mr. Abu clarified that foreigners are allowed to operate in the country, but it is a requirement for the company to have other local stakeholders, as is the case in most African countries.
The conversation concluded with Mr. Abu highlighting the major challenges faced by the gambling board in regulating the sector, including enforcing responsible gaming and ensuring accountability by operators, ensuring that they collect the right amounts of taxes from operators.
