Tanzania Confirmed as Host of the 2027 GRAF Conference
Tanzania has been confirmed as the host of the 2027 Gaming Regulators Africa Forum (GRAF) Conference, with Dar es Salaam set to welcome the forum for the second time. The announcement came at the close of the 17th Annual GRAF Conference, held in Maputo, Mozambique, from September 14 to 17, 2026, under the theme “Regulation for Transformation. Safer Gambling. Smarter Regulation. Stronger African Collaboration.”
While accepting the hosting rights, Gaming Board of Tanzania Director General James Mbalwe thanked the GRAF Board of Trustees for the confidence placed in the country and described the decision as recognition of Tanzania’s contribution to the gaming sector. “I wish to express my sincere appreciation to the GRAF Board of Trustees for the confidence you have placed in Tanzania by selecting our country to host the GRAF Conference next year.
“We are deeply honoured and grateful for this opportunity. The decision to bring this important conference to Tanzania is a recognition not only of Tanzania’s growing contribution to the gaming sector but also of our commitment to strengthening cooperation and knowledge sharing, responsible gaming, innovation, and effective regulation in Africa,” Mbalwe said.
Speaking exclusively to iGaming AFRIKA, GRAF President Mabutho Zwane described Tanzania’s selection as a homecoming for the forum and that it reflects GRAF’s commitment to giving every member state an opportunity to host the conference. “We’re really quite excited because it’s not going to be the first time that Tanzania hosts it. So, it’s like going back home. I think our approach as GRAF is that it should not just be about South Africa. GRAF belongs to all the member states. And each of us must commit to and must get the opportunity to host GRAF,” he said.
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According to him, the Tanzania edition will also support the forum’s goal of extending its reach beyond the Southern African Development Community (SADC). “It’s that we are now extending just beyond SADC. That’s really the aim,” he said.
“The next conference will be in Tanzania in Dar es Salaam; our colleagues from the Gaming Board of Tanzania have confirmed it, and we hope that it will be good for them, and for us as well. One of the challenges that we have is if we have one agreement that share information within the members should be very important to combat illegal games,” said GRAF Vice President Mr. Macario Gusse, while also speaking exclusively to iGaming AFRIKA.
GRAF Patron Dr. Serobi Maja also welcomed the announcement, saying, “We had a very lovely conference there some few years back, and now that it is going there again, obviously the second time around the conference will be even much, much bigger and more pleasant than the first one,” he added.
