Regulatory Quest: Zimbabwe’s journey towards online gambling

Speaking at the SiGMA Africa conference taking place in Cape Town today, Simbarashe Absolom Murondoti starts his keynote with an amusing anecdote about an uncomfortable encounter in an elevator he once had. He makes the point that life is full of uncertainties and odds, and chances- the very concepts on which the gambling industry thrives. 

Uncertainty and improbability, he maintains is responsible for this growing industry in Africa – an industry projected to be worth 1.85 billion in revenue.

The human race, he says, has managed to gamble with just about everything under the sun. However, “there is one thing we cannot afford to gamble with and that is the laws with which we govern our gambling industry.” And yet, he goes on to say – it seems we have been gambling with these laws.

From 1998 to 2024

Internet penetration in Zimbabwe is at 61% as of 2022 – yet the law that governs gambling dates back from as far as1998. 

“In the mind of the innocent drafter from 1998 it was inconsiderable that people would gamble, transact or even meet their soulmates online. It was unthinkable and yet that is the law that still governs us. 

He goes on to explain that the law as it currently stands (Section 31) inextricably links licensing with a physical brick and mortar location. Yet, in real time people are gambling away online. There is no framework for an application for a licence for gambling online. The result: the law as it extends today is a grey area. 

“We are missing a tremendous opportunity to regulate an industry that can generate tremendous growth for Zimbabwe. The default human response to something they don’t understand is to ban something. Ask Uber. Bitcoin. Ask any innovation in the history of everything.” 

Zimbabwe – the way forward

Despite this, there is a silver lining. The Zimbabwean government has embarked on a process to amend laws. The question of whether we need responsible gambling frameworks is crucial – we need to find ethical ways to enhance and protect our gambling sector, he continues. Taking a question from the audience, he delves into the key components for a responsible framework for online gambling in Zimbabwe, which he notes, would be to protect minors online. AI and machine learning can be particularly useful tools used to protect vulnerable people he opines. 

He ends his talk on a sober note, reminding us of people who have lost their lives to gambling.

“What is the real cost of our failure to regulate online gambling, he concludes.”