Luanda - The gambling sector had a turnover of more than 10 billion kwanzas in 2023, recording a growth of 55.51%, compared to 2022, which reached more than 6 billion kwanzas.
According to the director-general of the Gaming Supervision Institute (ISJ), Paulo Ringote, the direct collection of the gaming sector is distinguished between tax and parafiscal revenue, being 95% (Kz 10, 149, 578, 151.58) of total collection and the remaining 5% (Kz 531, 210, 999) of parafiscal revenue.
As indicated by the official, who was speaking to the press, during the presentation of the panorama of the gaming sector in Angola/2023, the increase in the special gaming tax was due to the extension of this activity to more provinces of the country, fundamentally social gaming, which was confined to Luanda for many years.
He said that the average annual revenue stood at more than 2.5 billion kwanzas, which indicates that tax collection in the coming years may exceed the amounts of 2023.
He said that the Angolan gaming market had a positive performance that translated into gross revenue of more than 37 billion kwanzas.
He underlined those games with total revenue above kz 23 billion, corresponding to 62% of all gross revenue in that year, were the ones with the highest performance, followed by games of chance, with 29%, and remote online games, with 9%.
In the modality of social games, a type of sports betting, the territorial base quota licensed for this purpose is developed with the help of shops or payment stations, and currently has the registration of 30 commercial units distributed in the provinces of Luanda, Benguela, Huambo, Bié, Huíla, Zaire and Cabinda.
In the same period of 2023, the sector registered a set of 86 tables and 334 slot machines for the exploitation of banked and unbanked games of chance (baccarat, oversize blackjack, toro, American roulette, poker, dragon tiger, point and bank, video poker, among others).
From 2019 to 2023, a total of 104 licenses were issued, of which 53 were active, 13 were suspended and 38 are currently expired.
Of the 104 licences issued in the period, 66 were allocated to Gambling, corresponding to 63.46%, Remote Online Gaming 33 (31.73%) and Social Gaming five and 4.81%, respectively.
The Angolan gaming market is composed of 23 gaming entities, 10 in the modality of Games of Chance, three in Territorial Sports Betting and 10 in Online Games.
Currently, the sector employs five thousand and 880 citizens, with one thousand and 703 dependent jobs (administrative and operational/shops) and four and 177 gaming mediators.
Legislation on Gaming
Regarding this sector, the deputies of the National Assembly approved, on Monday (15), in particular, the proposal for a Law on Gaming Activity, with 38 votes in favor, none against and no abstentions.
According to the reasoning, this reformulation is intended to establish a legal system of gaming that is more appropriate to the regulation and control of the activity, while safeguarding the defence of the rights and legitimate expectations of gaming operators and players.
The premises of the regulation and supervision of the activity are essentially based on the stability of the activity, strengthening the concession as a criterion of access, since all over the world gambling is considered a reserve activity of the State.
These premises are also based on the protection of public order, the legitimate interests of players or bettors and the strengthening of the level of literacy of the activity, as well as the prevention of fraudulent or criminal activities, such as money laundering and terrorist financing.
With the main innovations, the responsibility of concessionaires and licensed entities for the legality and regularity of the operation and practice of gambling is accentuated and the conditions for profitable and responsible exploitation are improved.
With this step, the proposed Gaming Activity Law is ready to go to the final global vote, scheduled for the 18th of this month. ASS/QCB/DOJ
