Insiders have suggested the much-publicised market reforms in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), including a new bill and an alleged centralised monitoring system for every iGaming operation, are still lacking in quality, while some believe they are non-existent.
Louis Richard Tshimbalanga, CEO of Kinshasa-based iGaming consultancy firm Congoflex Sarl and country manager for PstBet Congo, suggests there is no accurate estimate of the size of the market. “It is a mighty river surging with immense wealth, but its banks are so blurred that no one can accurately measure the gold flowing through it,” he tells iGB.
DRC Minister of Finance Doudou Fwamba suggested recently that iGaming operators were estimated to have generated nearly $1.7 billion in annual revenue since legislation was passed. Yet, the country’s coffers reportedly received only about $1 million in taxes.
Some stakeholders have suggested that much of the news that circulated in the last year has been more show than substance.
Question marks surrounding adequate oversight
Reports say a bill that was meant to govern every form of retail and online gambling was adopted last year. However, sources have insinuated that the DRC is still navigating murky waters, particularly with regards to online gambling regulation.
“The sector is advancing vigorously like a vehicle on autopilot, but without the clear, defined hands of a true regulator at the wheel,” Tshimbalanga says.
“This absence of a precise framework creates a unique stage where operators move with significant freedom — not out of defiance, but simply because the rulebook has yet to be definitively written.”
Tshimbalanga’s comments are echoed by the CEO of a prominent operator in the DRC, who says the system largely operates on a declaration basis of what operators report to the government.
“The Democratic Republic of Congo is a rather unique country in terms of the sports betting and lottery sector,” the CEO says, speaking anonymously.
“Operators do pay, yes, but they pay whatever suits them. In other words, we effectively pay what benefits us. All the while, the state has no means of monitoring its regulatory policies.
“For some, 7% GGR might be $100, for others, 7% might be $100,000; it all depends on the operator’s good faith.”
The institutional ballet
In the current landscape, it is worth noting that two main actors are attempting to set the tempo. Sometimes they operate in harmony, but more often there is dissonance.
On one side lies the Société Nationale de Loterie (SONAL), which was established by Ordinance No. 84-155 of 4 July 1984. SONAL is the state-owned company mandated to operate games of chance, lotteries and betting pools, and to contribute to the promotion of social and artistic works.
Initially, SONAL legally held the monopoly on lotteries and sports betting. But it now finds itself in an ambiguous role, attempting to improvise as the regulator by demanding a 7% monthly share of operators’ gross gaming revenue.
As Tshimbalanga sees it, SONAL now leans on its “historical monopoly”, which is outdated in today’s world of digital gaming.
iGB reached out to SONAL for comment, but did not hear back by the time of publishing.
Then there is the Ministry of Finance, which plays a sovereign role by collecting a 10% tax on every winning ticket.
“This is where it becomes a real conundrum because to truly understand the sector’s scale as a regulator, you need access to data,” Tshimbalanga explains.
The CEO further highlights the market’s uncertainty: “It is even more complicated for the ministry since it cannot directly target mobile money via operators, which is their main source of income. This is due to restrictions in regulation around consumer data protection.
“The data protection law needs to be amended. On what basis, then, would the Ministry of Finance’s 10% on winning tickets be calculated to be within the law? One must know how to count, but the ministry is incapable of counting.”
Mobile transaction key to DR Congo iGaming
The DRC, with a population of 112 million people, is largely dominated by transactions from four popular mobile money operators: Mpesa, AirtelMoney, OrangeMoney and AfricellMoney.
“[Regulators] can try, but how can they effectively control what happens in the shadows of mobile money transactions, which have become the backbone of iGaming in the DRC?” Tshimbalanga asks.
Such data is legally protected by the Autorité de Régulation de Poste et de Télécommunication, which cannot share this data. The legal framework exists within Law 20/017 of 25 November 2020, on telecommunications and ICTs, which established personal data protection in the DRC.
Ordinance-Law 23/010 of 13 March 2023 (Digital Code) further strengthened this framework, even providing for the creation of a Data Protection Authority.
Concluding his observations, Tshimbalanga asks: “How can you manage what you can’t even measure? The problem is that the 2020 law still awaits its implementing decree to specify the concrete conditions for data collection and sharing.
“Worse still, according to Article 126 of that same law, the processing of personal data is only authorised with the consent of the individual or upon requisition by the public prosecutor’s office. You see, we are in a deep grey zone, caught between the imperative need for fiscal transparency and the strict, yet still poorly defined, protection for user privacy.”
Is there hope for a tangible resolution to DR Congo gambling regulation?
Tshimbalanga maintains there is a way through this, but the solution will likely collide with the lack of a central monitoring system to provide a clear and indisputable overview of the market.
“It is a regime of trust,” he says. “Such that leaves considerable room for serious operators. This creates a burdensome legal uncertainty. For the state, it is immense fiscal potential slipping through its fingers.
“The project is both thrilling and urgent, for the DRC to finalise its legal edifice, appoint a single unified and legitimate regulator, and establish constructive dialogue with licensed operators.”
Ultimately, the goal for the sector would be to build a modern, fair, and transparent framework — one that protects players, secures operators’ investments for the long term and, finally, with the nation’s development in mind, one that allows the state to fully benefit from this windfall.
Insiders in DR Congo say gambling regulation exists more on paper than in practice.