Botswana Licensing Results Shared With Namibia: What South African Players Can Learn

Botswana licensing results: what was reported from Windhoek

Botswana's gambling regulator has been telling its neighbours that licensing local bookmakers worked. Find More Africa reported on 23 October 2026 that the Botswana Gambling Authority is sharing its experience of bookmaker licensing, oversight and responsible gambling with Namibia. Chief Executive Moruntshi Kemorwale and Chief Operations Officer Mopati Rammekwa took part in the Gambling Board of Namibia's Industry Consultation Workshop on the Licensing of Bookmakers and Totalizators, held at the Namibia Institute of Public Administration and Management (NIPAM) in Windhoek.

The headline numbers came from Kemorwale. According to the report, betting revenue in Botswana rose from BWP 240 million to BWP 1.3 billion after licensing, with BWP 1.5 billion projected for the current financial year. Illegal gambling accounts fell from more than one million before licensing to about 40,000. Problem gambling prevalence fell from 5% in 2020 to 3.4% in 2025.

That is a lot of change, and it is worth reading carefully before anyone treats it as proof that licensing fixes everything. These are figures reported from a conference stage and relayed by a trade outlet, not audited statistics we could check line by line. We have not converted the pula amounts into rand, because no source we opened gives a rate for the date.

This post is analysis by the SifuCasino Editorial Team. Where we give our own reading, we say so. Everything stated as fact comes from the pages listed under Sources, which we opened on 29 October 2026.

Who was in the room, including South Africa's National Gambling Board

The workshop was bigger than a two-regulator chat. iGaming AFRIKA reported on 21 October 2026 that it brought together government officials, regulators, technical experts and regional and international representatives to discuss licensing requirements, compliance, responsible gambling and the future of Namibia's betting sector.

Namibia's side included Minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Indileni Daniel, Gambling Board of Namibia chairperson Ben Shikongo and Acting CEO John Erastus. The report also lists representatives of the Namibia Revenue Agency, the Namibia Standards Institution, the Financial Intelligence Centre and the Namibian Police Force.

The regional expertise came from three places. Kemorwale spoke for Botswana. Nkoatse Ernest Mashamaite, Chief Compliance Officer of the National Gambling Board of South Africa, was listed among the regional regulators. Gaming Laboratories International supplied technical input (a consultancy lead from Bojosi Consulting Solutions was also listed), and the CEO of the African iGaming Alliance, Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe, presented on building a competitive, responsible and sustainable industry.

The detail that matters for readers here is the South African name on the list. The report does not say what Mashamaite told the room, so we will not guess. It does show that our national regulator is sitting in regional conversations about how neighbours license betting, at a time when it is also working under a newly appointed board.

What Botswana actually licenses

It helps to be clear about what Botswana's model covers. The Botswana Gambling Authority's own website lists the licence types it is mandated to grant: casino, lottery, betting, bingo, gambling machine and employee licences. It describes itself as a body corporate charged with regulating the gambling industry, with a purpose that includes a responsive licensing regime and responsible gaming.

The same page shows what a regulator can offer players when it is working. There is a responsible gambling self-help portal where people can apply for self-exclusion, third-party exclusion and cancellation of an exclusion. There is a complaints procedure for people unhappy with a licensee, and a Problem Gambling Severity Index test anyone can take.

Notice what is not on that list: a licence for remote casino games sold from a server in another country. The Botswana story is about licensing bookmakers and totalizators, including online betting that is subject to regulatory approval, not about opening the door to offshore casinos. As iGaming Business reported, the licensing push followed a 2023 process to license bookmaker and totalisator operators.

That distinction is easy to lose in a headline about falling illegal accounts. Betting on sport and racing is one product. Online casino games are another, and the legal position in South Africa for each is different. Our South Africa gambling law guide sets out where the line currently sits.

The numbers behind the Botswana claim, and why they do not all match

The iGaming Business report, published on 3 September 2026, gives a longer run of figures, and they are a useful cross-check. Some line up with what Kemorwale said in Windhoek. Some do not obviously match, and we should say so.

• Problem gambling: the same 5% in 2020 to 3.4% in 2025 figure appears there, attributed to Kemorwale in January and linked in part to the regulator's responsible gambling programme and outreach.
• Illegal online activity before licensing: in January 2024 the Authority said it had recorded about 510,000 monthly cases of Botswana residents taking part in illegal online gambling. That is a monthly count of cases, which is not the same thing as the "more than one million illegal accounts" quoted in Windhoek.
• Licensed market size: licensed operators accepted P150 million in wagers in March 2025, paid out P135 million and kept P15 million as gross gambling revenue. By December 2025, Kemorwale said gambling revenue had passed P700 million, with more than P1 billion expected by the end of the 2026/27 financial year in March 2027.
• Share still unlicensed: the Authority estimated that only about 40% of Botswana's roughly 550,000 active bettors were using licensed local operators.

Now compare that with the Windhoek figure of BWP 1.3 billion in betting revenue. A revenue number of P1.3 billion sits well above the P700 million gambling revenue and the P1 billion target reported by iGaming Business. The likeliest explanation, in our reading, is that the Windhoek figure counts something wider such as total wagers, or a different period, but neither report says so. We could not reconcile the two, and you should not treat either as a settled industry statistic.

The honest summary is that the direction of travel looks consistent across reports: a larger licensed market, a smaller reported illegal one, and lower reported problem gambling. The precise numbers need the Authority's own annual reports before anyone quotes them as fact.

Licensing did not end the illegal market in Botswana

The strongest argument against reading Botswana as a clean success story comes from the Authority itself. According to iGaming Business, Kemorwale told a staff awards event in Gaborone that unlicensed platforms are diverting an estimated P850 million a year from Botswana's economy and exposing children and teenagers to unregulated gambling. He described the fast growth of the illegal online market as one of the sector's most serious challenges.

The enforcement detail is just as telling. In December 2025 the Gambling Authority and the Financial Intelligence Agency were reported to be investigating eight foreign-based betting websites allegedly using local proxies. Authorities were also reported to be working with communications and financial-sector bodies to restrict access to illegal platforms and disrupt their payment channels.

Put simply, a licence gives legal operators a route into the market. It does not stop unlicensed ones from taking money from the people who prefer them. Botswana's own estimate that around 60% of active bettors were still outside licensed local operators in 2025 shows how much ground is left.

For South African readers this matters because it is the same conversation our regulator is having about offshore casinos. The National Gambling Board's plan to cut off payments and access is the subject of our post on the NGB plan to block illegal gambling websites. Botswana's experience suggests blocking and payment pressure are part of the toolkit, but they sit alongside licensing, not in place of it.

The Botswana law change that is still waiting

Botswana is also in the middle of changing its rules. iGaming Business reported that the National Assembly passed the Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2026 at third reading on 13 August. The bill would lower the legal gambling age from 21 to 18, align the Gambling Authority Act more closely with the Financial Intelligence Act and Financial Action Task Force standards, and raise the maximum sanction for contravening Section 87(1) to a P100,000 fine, up to five years in prison, or both.

It would also require most licence holders to link gambling machines and devices to the Authority's statutory monitoring system, and require Authority approval for the acquisition of a direct or indirect financial or controlling interest of 5% or more, unless a lower threshold is prescribed. As of the report, presidential assent and commencement had not been confirmed. We have not found a later source that says otherwise, so we treat the bill as passed by parliament but not yet confirmed in force.

The age proposal split opinion. Supporters argued that 18 to 20 year olds are already adults and that a higher threshold could push some towards unlicensed sites. Opponents argued that younger adults are more vulnerable to early exposure and addiction. Labour and Home Affairs Minister Pius Mokgware warned parliament against laws that cannot be enforced in practice.

That last point is the one South African policymakers should keep in view. An age limit, a block list or a tax only works if someone can enforce it, and enforcement on the internet depends on banks, mobile networks and technology, not just statute.

What it means for Namibia and where South Africa fits

Namibia is a licensing project in progress. Our earlier coverage shows the pieces. The Gambling Board of Namibia extended two technology tenders to 5 November 2026, one for a central electronic monitoring system and one for a licensing and document management system. Separately, we reported that Namibia's minister told parliament the board is not yet fully operational and still needs staff.

Seen together, our reading is that Botswana is offering Namibia a template at the exact moment Namibia is buying monitoring technology and drafting fees. Botswana's own plans include a central electronic monitoring system and a lingering reliance on outside specialists for some technical regulatory work, according to the iGaming Business report. So the template is not finished either.

For South Africa the comparison is uncomfortable. Botswana licences bookmakers and has set up self-exclusion, complaints and public problem gambling measurement. South Africa has provincial licensing, a national board with oversight functions, and no licensed online casino. The practical gap for players is not about which country is better. It is that a Botswana punter placing a legal bet has a regulator to complain to, while a South African playing an offshore casino generally does not have one at home.

What this means for South African players

Nothing in this story changes what is legal for you today. Botswana's licences cover Botswana. They do not turn an offshore casino into a South African licensee, and a casino that accepts South African players is not the same thing as one that is licensed here. If you play on offshore sites anyway, the safest habit is to treat the licence as the start of your checking, not the end. Our guide on how to check a casino licence in South Africa walks through it.

There is one more regional thread worth knowing. Focus Gaming News reported on 19 October that Communications Minister Solly Malatsi said he would ask ICASA to assess consumer safeguards for betting vouchers sold through mobile networks, while attorney Wayne Lurie warned that restrictions on licensed operators could push customers towards unlicensed ones. Botswana's numbers are an argument for the same worry: when licensed routes are made hard, some demand moves elsewhere.

A few practical points follow from all this:

• Check who would handle a complaint. A regulator you can contact in your own country is worth more than a licence number from somewhere you cannot reach.
• Use the tools the operator gives you. Deposit limits, time-outs and self-exclusion matter more than any national statistic. Our responsible gambling page lists support options in South Africa.
• Treat reported figures with care, ours included. Percentages that fall sharply after a policy change are encouraging, but they are not a promise about any site you use.
• Remember the risk. Gambling is entertainment, you can lose the money you stake, and you should only play with what you can afford to lose. You must be 18 or older in South Africa.

What to watch next

Five developments will tell us whether the Botswana claims hold and whether the lessons travel.

• Botswana's Gambling (Amendment) Bill: whether it receives presidential assent, and when the minister sets a commencement date by gazette notice.
• The Authority's annual figures: published numbers that explain how the BWP 1.3 billion revenue claim relates to the P700 million and P1 billion figures reported earlier.
• Namibia's tenders: the 5 November closing date for the monitoring and licensing systems, and who is appointed.
• Namibia's gazetted regulations: the final fees and licence types after the regional workshops.
• South Africa's own enforcement steps: any move on payments, access blocking or mobile network rules following the ICASA review.

We will cover those as they are published. Until then, the sensible reading is cautious: Botswana's reported results are promising on the regulator's own terms, the licensed market is still only part of the whole, and none of it gives South African players a new protection.

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