Bonanzasub

What is Bonanzasub?

During a session of the House Audit Committee last Thursday, members of parliament (MPs), the Data Protection Commissioner and representatives from the Welfare Benefits Administration Service (WBAS), the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission and the National Betting Authority (NBA) convened to discuss ways to identify and restrict gambling activity among GMI beneficiaries, as reported by Cyprus Mail.

While the intention is to protect vulnerable households and ensure welfare is spent on essential needs, proposed measures are being complicated by legal, technical and privacy obstacles.

Harris Tsangarides, executive director of the Gaming & Casino Supervision Commission, said his department had noticed spikes in gambling activity coinciding with GMI payment dates, prompting the regulator to consider “technical solution” to cross-reference GMI beneficiary lists with casino membership records.

What is Bonanzasub?

By December 2025, Kemorwale said gambling revenue had exceeded P700m, and the Authority expected the industry to surpass P1 billion by the end of the 2026/27 financial year in March 2027.

Kemorwale said Botswana needed to modernise oversight as the sector developed, including through a central electronic monitoring system and stronger enforcement capability. “Truth be told, this industry is evolving as the sun rises. You snooze, you lose,” Kemorwale said. He added that the Authority still relies on outside specialists for some technical regulatory work because domestic expertise is limited.

Illegal betting remained a central enforcement concern. In December 2025, the Gambling Authority and Financial Intelligence Agency were reported to be investigating eight foreign-based betting websites allegedly using local proxies to operate in Botswana.

About Bonanzasub

“Brazil learned a great deal from the experience of regulators worldwide while developing our own regulatory framework, and I view the IAGR as one of the most important forums for this exchange of knowledge,” he stated.

“Although each jurisdiction has its own legal system, market characteristics and regulatory priorities, many of the challenges we face are increasingly global. Combatting the illegal market, preventing money laundering, protecting consumers and ensuring betting integrity require ever-greater cooperation among regulators from different countries.”

Macorin will attend the IAGR Annual Conference in Peru (19-22 October). There, regulators and industry representatives from around the world will discuss emerging challenges and opportunities in gaming and betting regulation.