DAR ES SALAAM: COUNTRY’s sports fraternity expects to see a brighter future as the Gaming Board of Tanzania (GBT) is set to re-introduce the National Lottery which will contribute 50 per cent of its revenue collections in the development of the sports sector.
Speaking with journalists yesterday in Dar es Salaam when unveiling its successes and challenges and giving awareness of the gaming sector, GBT Director of Corporate Services, Daniel Ole Sumayan unveiled that the re-introduction of the National Lottery will give the sports sector a major boost.
Currently, according to GBT, Sports Betting is contributing 5 per cent of the revenue collection each month to the National Sports Council (NSC) which is utilised in various sports development activities of various sports.
“We believe the current 5 per cent contributed to NSC can bring a great revolution in the development of sports in the country and when the National Lottery is back, the percentage will rise and we expect that will bring the changes we are expecting,” he discloses.
The increase in collection will enable NSC to facilitate more sports, especially those involving national teams of various sports discipline representing the country in various international assignments.
According to Ole Sumayan, the re-introduction is in the pipeline, and soon GBT is expecting to unveil the company that will run the national lottery, which will ensure their target to strengthen the sports sector in the country is met.
Apart from that, he unveiled that Sport Betting firms in the country have been supporting sports, especially football and boxing, whereby various firms have sponsored some teams, including those in the topflight league such as Simba SC to name a few.
According to Jame Mbalwe, the GBT Director General, currently there are 36 sports betting firms among the 91 gaming firms operating in the country which are contributing a lot in various sectors in the country, including the national income, with figures showing that gaming revenue has increased from 33.6 billion shillings in the year 2016/17 to 170.4 billion in 2022/23.
Mbalwe unveiled that this year they are expecting the collection to rise to 200 billion shillings, further unveiling that the sector has also employed 25,000 people which will raise government and employment revenue respectively.
However, he cautioned that people should know that gaming is neither a job nor a source of income and they should take it as part of leisure and entertainment.