Kenya Pushes for Real-Time Gambling Monitoring as Regulator Targets US$310m Tax Revenue

Kenya’s Gambling Regulatory Authority plans to connect licensed gambling operators to a central monitoring system, giving regulators live access to betting transactions as the government seeks to raise tax collections from the sector to around US$310m.

Kenya is preparing to introduce a real-time gambling monitoring system as part of a broader effort to strengthen oversight, improve tax compliance and reduce revenue leakage in the country’s fast-growing betting market.

The plan was outlined by Peter Karimi, Director General of the Gambling Regulatory Authority, during Gaming Tech Summit Africa 2026 in Nairobi. According to the regulator, all licensed participants in the sector — including online bookmakers, casinos, lotteries and land-based gambling establishments — will be required to integrate directly with the central monitoring platform.

The system is expected to mark a major shift away from the current model, in which operators largely report revenues and transactions to regulators and tax authorities themselves. Once operational, the platform would allow government agencies to track betting activity as it happens, monitor revenues, verify compliance and detect suspicious transactions more quickly.

The fiscal importance of the reform is clear. Kenya’s betting and gaming sector generated approximately KSh33bn in taxes during the 2024/25 financial year. With stronger compliance tools, more predictable regulation and enhanced monitoring capacity, collections are expected to rise to about KSh40bn this year, equivalent to roughly US$310m.

Beyond taxation, the proposed system is also expected to support enforcement against illegal gambling. Regulators intend to use the platform alongside cooperation with the Communications Authority, the Central Bank of Kenya and the Financial Reporting Centre to identify unlicensed operators, monitor suspicious financial flows and protect consumers from fraud-linked gambling activity.

The initiative forms part of Kenya’s wider regulatory reset under the Gambling Control Act 2025 and the proposed Gambling Control Regulations 2026. These reforms aim to modernise licensing, operational standards, advertising controls, national lottery rules and oversight of foreign-based operators.

For licensed operators, the reform could bring higher compliance costs and more demanding technical obligations. However, it could also create a more transparent market by reducing underreporting, improving tax predictability and making enforcement more consistent across the sector.

Kenya’s approach reflects a broader African trend: gambling regulators are moving from paper-based or operator-led reporting toward automated supervision and direct access to transaction-level data. If implemented effectively, the monitoring system could become one of the most important tools in Kenya’s effort to balance market growth, tax collection and consumer protection.