Namibia advances gambling reform proposals as regulator staffing remains incomplete

Namibia has moved its proposed amendments to the Lotteries Regulations and Gambling and Gambling Activities Regulations through regional validation workshops, after consultations in March and April. For operators, the more immediate point is that the Gambling Board of Namibia (GBN) is not yet fully operational, which matters when the same regulator is supposed to police fees, licensing, and a new central monitoring stack.

1. The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism (MEFT) held the workshops in October, and the regional submissions are expected to be consolidated in Windhoek before the next stage of the gazetting process. The reforms are therefore still in motion, not yet in force.
2. The proposed amendments would add new operator fees to support tighter oversight through a central electronic monitoring system (CEMS), according to NBC’s report on the Keetmanshoop validation workshop. The GBN has already gone to market for a remote, real-time CEMS under section 90 of the Gaming and Entertainment Control Act 2018, alongside an automated licensing platform.
3. The procurement deadline for both tenders has been extended to 5 November. The system is meant to record and report gambling activity and transactions at licensed operations, which makes the implementation side as important as the policy side: if the monitoring and licensing tools lag, fee collection and oversight do too.
4. The GBN also issued a separate public notice for a 15 October 2026 consultation workshop for bookmaker and totalisator licence applicants, covering licensing requirements and technical compliance for intended betting and wagering platforms. In parallel, the proposals include revised licensing and registration arrangements, including an electronic software lottery licence for digital and online gaming platforms.
5. GBN Acting Chief Executive Johannes Erastus said the proposed structure was informed by research and benchmarking, and chairperson Ben Shikongo urged the government to “expedite the process of gazetting the fees, particularly those that were previously high”. Under the 2021 regulations, casino, gambling house, bar gambling and shebeen gambling licence holders pay a levy of 10% of net monthly income, while totalisator licence holders pay 10% of gross monthly takings.

The regulatory gap is the part to watch here. The minister, Indileni Daniel, said the GBN is not yet fully operational, but the same body is being tasked with implementing reforms that rely on fee collection, licensing controls, and a central electronic monitoring system. That is exactly the sort of setup that can look neat on paper and then become a headache in practice if staffing and procurement do not keep pace.