The Democratic Republic of Congo's Finance Ministry has given companies operating gambling businesses, including sports betting, lotteries, casinos and prediction games, until March 31, 2026 to bring their operations into compliance.

In a communique published on March 5, the ministry asked operators without a license to register with the Directorate of Financial Regulation or provincial finance divisions to obtain an official operating permit.

Operators who fail to comply face sanctions under current legislation. These include administrative penalties such as fines, tax adjustments, suspension of activity or forced closure, as well as criminal prosecution for unauthorized commercial activity or tax fraud.

The Finance Ministry also reminded operators of their obligation to pay the operating license tax and the ad valorem tax on players' winnings. The ministry derives this authority from Article 46 of the Dec. 10, 2023 finance law for fiscal year 2024, which transferred the collection of these taxes to the ministry. The taxes were originally established under a March 13, 2018 ordinance-law defining duties, taxes and levies collected by the central government.

$1.6 billion in revenue

The move highlights the challenge of capturing revenue from a fast-growing but still largely informal sector.

"The sector's contribution to the public treasury remains relatively low, even though studies indicate that the total revenue of companies operating in this field exceeded $1.6 billion in the last fiscal year," Finance Minister Doudou Fwamba said during a broadcast on Top Congo on Sept. 29, 2025.

The situation stems partly from the large number of informal operators. In 2023, during a Cabinet meeting, Fwamba's predecessor Nicolas Kazadi said 139 illegal operators had been active in 2022, with no data available on their revenues.

Tax receipts from the sector that year reached only one billion Congolese francs, a level considered very low relative to its actual potential.

Despite the deadline, the Finance Ministry's ability to act remains constrained by a fragmented regulatory framework.

"Although the sector already has a regulatory framework, it remains insufficiently modernized and inadequately digitized," Fwamba said in the radio interview.

A government diagnostic also identified the absence of a clear and unified regulatory framework and weak oversight, creating conditions that facilitate money laundering and other illicit financial activities.

Push for digitization

To address these weaknesses, the government has launched a reform of the sector. A bill laying out the fundamental principles for gambling was adopted in Cabinet on April 11, 2025 and transmitted to Parliament in June 2025.

The bill proposes an overhaul of the sector's governance and regulatory framework. Measures under consideration include the creation of a monitoring system to track operators' transactions in real time.

The reform would also expand digitization by requiring players to create accounts before participating in games. This measure would strengthen transaction traceability.

In parallel, the Ministry of Sports and Leisure signed a partnership in June with Burundian company East African General Trade Company to establish a centralized digital system to track bets and lotteries.

The system is designed to connect operator platforms and transmit real-time data on wagers and winnings to the state. The reform also includes plans for a sector-specific tax regime aimed at increasing public revenue collection.

Under current rules, winnings are taxed at 10% and the operating license tax is capped at $100,000 under a ministerial order dating from November 2019. Authorities also say the reform aims to strengthen efforts against money laundering and terrorist financing, risks regularly associated with gambling activities.

While the government's bill is under review in Parliament, National Assembly member Willy Mishiki Buhini introduced a separate bill in February 2026 also aimed at regulating gambling in the DRC. The lawmaker argued that the sector's rapid growth requires a stricter legal framework to protect players and ensure a greater fiscal contribution.

Pierre Mukoko & Boaz Kabeya