The Democratic Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Finance has restated that it alone controls oversight of the country’s gambling sector, ending what it describes as institutional confusion over jurisdiction. In a press release dated 27 August, the ministry pointed operators to Ordinance No. 25/293, which shifted regulatory authority away from the Ministry of Sports and Leisure. The statement, signed by Alain Malata Kafunda, chief of staff to the finance minister, also warned operators against paying any body not legally empowered to collect from them. For a market of more than 100 million people, the move carries weight well beyond a bureaucratic reshuffle.
What the Reassertion Means for Operators
Before the specifics, the strategic picture. The ministry is drawing a hard line around who can lawfully demand money from gambling operators, and it is telling those operators to treat any request from an unauthorised department as worthless on paper.
- Single point of authority: All regulatory oversight now sits with the Ministry of Finance, closing the door on competing claims from other departments.
- Payment notices issued by unauthorised bodies are declared “devoid of legal effect” — yet operators remain fully liable to the Public Treasury regardless.
- Reporting obligation: Operators are instructed to flag irregular payment demands to the ministry and to the Directorate General of Administrative, Judicial, State Property and Equity Revenues (DGRAD).
- The DGRAD has been handed the job of hunting down and cancelling improperly issued notices.
- A new monitoring platform and a modernised legal framework are in development, both aimed squarely at tax collection.
A Market Rich in Potential, Poor in Collection
The numbers tell an uncomfortable story. Last year, DRC Minister of Finance Doudou Fwamba estimated that iGaming operators generated roughly $1.7 billion in annual revenue. Their combined tax contribution? Around $1 million.
That gap is not a rounding error. It points to a collection system that, at least on paper, functions but in practice barely constrains anyone. The DRC is widely viewed as one of Africa’s more promising gambling markets, a perception built largely on its population size and rising connectivity. But scale means little when the state cannot see what it is owed.
A CEO of a prominent operator described the mechanics bluntly in comments to the industry news outlet covering online gambling markets last year. The system, they explained, runs on self-declaration: operators report what they choose to report. “Operators do pay, yes, but they pay whatever suits them,” the executive said. “In other words, we effectively pay what benefits us. All the while, the state has no means of monitoring its regulatory policies.”
Which raises a harder question: how do you tax an industry you cannot measure?
The Revenue Gap in Numbers
| Metric | Reported Figure | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated annual iGaming revenue | ~$1.7 billion | DRC Minister of Finance Doudou Fwamba (2024 estimate) |
| Estimated tax contribution | ~$1 million | Ministry of Finance |
| National population | In excess of 100 million — one of the largest untapped consumer bases on the continent | Government demographic data |
| Governing instrument | Ordinance No. 25/293 | DRC government |
Why the Timing Matters
The reassertion of authority is not happening in isolation. Earlier this year, the ministry outlined plans for a gambling monitoring platform designed to give the state real-time visibility into operator activity. Alongside it, a new legal framework is under development, intended to modernise ageing rules and tighten the screws on tax collection.
Read together, these steps suggest a sequence rather than a scattergun. First, settle the question of who is in charge. Then build the tools to enforce it. And while the ordinance clears up jurisdiction, the enforcement machinery is still being assembled, which is arguably the more difficult half of the task.
The ministry framed its position around three commitments: legal certainty for operators, transparency in activities, and protection of the Public Treasury’s interests. For operators accustomed to a permissive declaration regime, the second and third of those may prove less comfortable than the first.
Regulatory and Business Implications
For licensed operators, the immediate effect is clarity on where obligations flow and who can lawfully demand payment. That clarity cuts both ways. It protects operators from paying unauthorised bodies, but it also removes the ambiguity some may have relied on to justify minimal contributions.
The DGRAD’s mandate to cancel irregular notices signals that the ministry expects to find them. That expectation itself is telling. A government that anticipates rogue payment demands is a government aware that its own institutional plumbing has leaked before.
For international operators eyeing the DRC, the reform introduces a variable worth watching. A functioning monitoring platform would reshape the economics of operating in a market where, until now, tax exposure has been largely self-selected. The precedent being set gives the finance ministry a template it has already signalled intent to use.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who now regulates gambling in the DRC?
The Ministry of Finance holds sole authority following Ordinance No. 25/293, which transferred oversight from the Ministry of Sports and Leisure.
What should operators do if an unauthorised department requests payment?
The ministry has instructed operators to report such requests immediately to the Ministry of Finance and the DGRAD, which is tasked with cancelling any irregularly issued payment notices. Any act from an unauthorised body is treated as having no legal effect.
Are operators still liable if they ignore an unauthorised notice?
Yes. Declining to pay an unauthorised body does not erase an operator’s genuine obligations to the Public Treasury.
How large is the DRC’s tax collection problem?
Substantial. Against an estimated $1.7 billion in annual iGaming revenue, operators contributed roughly $1 million in tax last year.
What reforms are coming next?
A gambling monitoring platform and a modernised legal framework, both aimed at strengthening supervision and tax collection.
