DRC Ministry of Finance reaffirms sole authority of gambling oversight

The Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has reaffirmed it holds sole authority to oversee the nation’s gambling sector.

In a press release dated 27 August, the DRC’s Ministry of Finance reminded gambling operators that Ordinance No. 25/293 formally transferred responsibility for regulating the sector from the Ministry of Sports and Leisure to its own remit.

In the Ministry of Finance’s view, this ended “any institutional ambiguity” over who should oversee the DRC’s gambling industry.

“The Ministry of Finance reaffirms its determination to drive the reform of the gambling and games of chance sector in accordance with government directives, while upholding legal certainty for operators, transparency in activities and the protection of the Public Treasury’s interests,” said the press release, signed by Alain Malata Kafunda, the chief of staff to the DRC minister of finance.

Taxation of gambling in the DRC

The press release also warned operators against complying with any payment requests from departments that aren’t legally authorised to do so.

It called for any such acts to be reported immediately to the Ministry of Finance and the Directorate General of Administrative, Judicial, State Property and Equity Revenues (DGRAD).

The DGRAD has been tasked with identifying and securing the cancellation of any irregularly issued payment notices.

The Ministry of Finance stated that any approval, authorisation, payment notice or other act issued by a department without authorisation was “devoid of legal effect”, with operators still liable for fulfilling their obligations to the DRC’s Public Treasury.

Tax collection an issue in the DRC

The DRC is perceived by many as a gambling market with significant potential, owing largely to its population well in excess of 100 million people.

Yet tax collection continues to plague the sector’s progress.

Last year, the DRC’s Minister of Finance Doudou Fwamba estimated iGaming operators generated around $1.7 billion in annual revenue, yet contributed approximately $1 million in taxes.

A CEO of a prominent operator in the DRC last year told iGB the tax system largely operates on a declaration basis of how much operators report to the government.

“Operators do pay, yes, but they pay whatever suits them,” they said. “In other words, we effectively pay what benefits us. All the while, the state has no means of monitoring its regulatory policies.”

In response to these issues, earlier this year the DRC Ministry of Finance outlined plans for a new gambling monitoring platform to enhance its supervision of the sector.

The DRC government is also developing a new legal framework for the gambling industry, designed to modernise existing rules and strengthen oversight of tax collection.