Botswana’s National Assembly passed the Gambling (Amendment) Bill, 2026, on 13 August, retaining a provision that would reduce the minimum legal gambling age from 21 to 18 while tightening oversight of licence holders. The legislation, which still requires presidential assent before it can take effect, is significant for Botswana’s regulated betting market because it combines wider adult market access with anti-money laundering, ownership-control and monitoring requirements intended to address growth in licensed and illegal online gambling.
The measure, published as Bill No. 15 of 2026, cleared its third reading following debate at the second reading and committee stages. It would amend the Gambling Authority Act, Cap. 19:03, which governs licensing and regulatory supervision across the country’s gambling sector.
Parliament’s approval does not mean the amendments are yet enforceable. Following assent, the responsible minister would need to set a commencement date through an order in the Government Gazette. The timing will determine when operators must adapt their age-verification procedures, ownership reporting, monitoring arrangements and other compliance systems.
The change in the legal gambling age was the most disputed element of the bill. Under the current legal framework, gambling is restricted to people aged 21 and above. Clause 2 of the amendment replaces references to “the age of 21” in the Act with “the age of 18”, bringing the gambling threshold into line with Botswana’s general age of majority.
Supporters of the measure argued during parliamentary proceedings that individuals between 18 and 20 are recognised as adults for many civic, contractual and economic purposes. They also raised the risk that a higher statutory gambling age could be difficult to enforce online, particularly where consumers can reach overseas platforms that do not apply Botswana’s restrictions.
Labour and Home Affairs Minister Major General Pius Mokgware told legislators that rules need to be capable of practical enforcement. He cautioned against enacting provisions that authorities could not effectively police, particularly as unlicensed digital gambling services remain available to consumers.
However, opposition members challenged the decision to lower the threshold. Moshupa/Manyana MP Karabo Gare argued that people at 18 may lack the ability to make fully informed decisions about gambling and could be more exposed to addiction risks. Botswana Congress Party MP Kenny Kapinga also urged Parliament to retain 21 as the minimum age, citing concerns about early exposure to betting among younger adults.
Those objections underline a compliance challenge for the Gambling Authority and licensed operators. If the bill enters into force, gambling businesses will be permitted to accept customers aged 18 and above, but they will face greater scrutiny over whether their customer onboarding, identity checks and responsible gambling measures are sufficient. The lower threshold may also increase the importance of preventing access by minors, since operators will need to distinguish accurately between legal adult customers and those below 18.
The bill’s wider provisions are directed at regulatory controls rather than market expansion alone. Its memorandum states that the amendments are intended to align the Gambling Authority Act more closely with Botswana’s Financial Intelligence Act and standards set by the Financial Action Task Force. The focus reflects the financial-crime risks associated with gambling, where payment flows, customer transactions and complex corporate ownership structures can create money-laundering vulnerabilities.
Under the proposed framework, applicants and licence holders would be subject to more detailed requirements concerning beneficial ownership, financial interests and control of gambling businesses. The Gambling Authority would also have an explicit role in assessing whether relevant persons meet fit-and-proper standards. Such assessments are generally used by gambling regulators to consider an individual’s integrity, financial standing, competence and suitability to hold an interest in a regulated operator.
The legislation would require Gambling Authority approval where a person seeks to acquire a direct or indirect financial or controlling interest of at least 5% in a licence holder, unless a lower threshold is set. The provision could give the regulator a clearer view of who ultimately controls betting, casino, bingo and other gambling operations. It may also impose additional transaction and disclosure obligations on investors, shareholders and corporate groups seeking exposure to Botswana’s gambling market.
Know-your-customer obligations would also be strengthened. Operators will be expected to verify and maintain information on customers and, where relevant, ownership and controlling interests. For online businesses, these requirements will have practical implications for account registration, payment controls, age verification and monitoring of potentially unusual activity. The cost of implementing such controls may be more manageable for larger operators than for smaller licence holders, creating a possible competitive pressure within the local market.
Monitoring technology is another central feature of the bill. Most licensees would be required to connect gambling machines and devices located on their premises to the Gambling Authority’s statutory monitoring system. Casino and bingo licence holders would instead be required to install their own monitoring systems. The distinction suggests that the regulator expects venue-based operators to maintain systems suited to their own operating models while ensuring that activity can be subject to oversight.
A centralised or connected monitoring approach could assist the Authority in reviewing turnover, machine activity and compliance data. It could also improve the regulator’s capacity to identify irregular patterns and verify whether operators are meeting reporting obligations. Yet implementation will depend on technical capability, industry readiness and the availability of skilled personnel. Gambling Authority officials have previously acknowledged that Botswana continues to rely on external specialists for some technical regulatory functions because domestic expertise is limited.
The bill also raises the maximum penalty for contravening Section 87(1) of the Act to a fine of P100,000, imprisonment for up to five years, or both. The source material does not specify which conduct is covered by the section, but the increase signals a broader legislative intention to strengthen sanctions available under the gambling regime.
At the same time, the proposed law introduces a procedural safeguard for licensees. Before the Gambling Authority suspends, revokes or declines to renew a licence, it would be required to give the operator an opportunity to be heard. The measure may provide businesses with clearer due-process protections when facing regulatory action, although it does not remove the Authority’s ability to intervene against non-compliant operators.
The amendments come as Botswana seeks to bring a growing share of betting demand into the licensed market. The Gambling Authority began a licensing process for bookmaker and totalisator operators in 2023, including online betting operations subject to approval. Before locally licensed online platforms began operating, the regulator said in January 2024 that it was recording about 510,000 monthly instances of Botswanans taking part in illegal online gambling.
Licensed online activity has subsequently begun to develop. Sunbet Botswana launched online sports betting in February 2025 and said sign-ups rose by 4,700% during its first month. The company did not disclose the baseline or the absolute number of registrations, limiting the ability to assess the commercial scale of that reported increase.
Regulatory figures offer a more direct indication of the licensed sector’s development. The Gambling Authority said operators accepted P150 million in wagers during March 2025, paid P135 million in winnings and generated P15 million in gross gambling revenue. The Authority estimated that approximately 40% of Botswana’s 550,000 active bettors were using licensed local operators, leaving most customers either with offshore websites or other unregulated channels.
That market split is central to the policy debate around the bill. The regulator has argued that illegal online betting deprives Botswana of revenue, reduces consumer safeguards and enables access by underage users. Acting Gambling Authority chief executive Moruntshi Kemorwale said unlicensed platforms were diverting an estimated P850 million, equivalent to about $63.2 million, from the domestic economy each year.
Kemorwale has identified unauthorised digital gambling as one of the sector’s principal enforcement concerns. In December 2025, the Gambling Authority and Financial Intelligence Agency were reported to be investigating eight foreign-based betting websites alleged to have used local proxies to serve customers in Botswana. Authorities were also said to be working with communications and financial-sector bodies to restrict platform access and interrupt payment routes connected to unlicensed operations.
Blocking access and payments can be difficult where gambling websites are based abroad, change internet domains or rely on intermediaries. The effectiveness of Botswana’s approach will therefore depend not only on formal legal powers but also on cooperation between the gambling regulator, law-enforcement agencies, payment providers, telecommunications bodies and overseas authorities where applicable.
Responsible gambling was also a recurring subject during Parliament’s consideration of the bill. In January, Kemorwale said the reported rate of problem gambling had fallen to 3.4% in 2025 from 5% in 2020. He attributed the decline partly to the National Responsible Gambling Programme and education initiatives. The figures provide an indication of the Authority’s assessment, although the source material does not provide methodology or detail on how the rates were calculated.
Environment and Tourism Minister Dr Wynter Mmolotsi called for a dedicated rehabilitation facility for people experiencing gambling-related harm. He also urged Botswana to consider systems that can identify lengthy gambling sessions, betting patterns and other indicators associated with potentially harmful play. Such tools are increasingly relevant in online betting, where operators can gather substantial data but must have the capability and policies to use it for customer protection.
Kgatleng Central MP Mpho Morolong told Parliament that gambling should be treated as entertainment rather than a means of achieving financial security. His comments reflected concern that misleading marketing or unrealistic expectations can contribute to harmful behaviour, particularly in markets where sports betting is becoming more accessible through mobile devices.
The Gambling Authority has projected continued commercial expansion. By December 2025, Kemorwale said gambling revenue had exceeded P700 million and that the industry could pass P1 billion by the end of the 2026/27 financial year in March 2027. Those projections will depend in part on whether licensed operators can win customers from unregulated platforms while absorbing the compliance costs contemplated by the amendment bill.
The immediate next step is presidential consideration of the legislation. If assent is granted, the minister must publish a commencement order before the amendments apply, after which the Gambling Authority will need to issue or update implementation requirements for age controls, ownership approvals, anti-money-laundering processes and monitoring systems. Operators, meanwhile, will be expected to prepare for closer supervision as Botswana attempts to shift gambling activity into its licensed market and strengthen action against unlawful online services.
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