The Democratic Republic of Congo is moving to centralise oversight of its gambling sector through a new government-backed monitoring platform announced in Kinshasa.
Officials from the Ministry of Finance outlined the initiative on 30 May, detailing plans to strengthen supervision of gaming operations across the entire country.
Didier Bobwa, who heads information systems and monitoring of gaming activities within the ministry, revealed the platform during a press briefing in Kinshasa.
Despite estimates suggesting iGaming operators have generated nearly $1.7 billion in annual revenue since legislation was passed, the country has reportedly collected only around $1 million in taxes.
Bobwa stated that the government was in the process of integrating a gambling monitoring platform that would make it possible to control the operations and activities of gaming operators.
The centralised system is intended to equip the government’s Gambling Monitoring Unit with advanced technical capabilities to track the gambling market more closely and comprehensively nationwide.
The reforms reflect growing concerns about social and financial risks, with Bobwa citing personal debt, gambling addiction, money laundering, and the involvement of minors as key drivers.
Industry insiders have suggested the sector had previously operated largely on a declaration basis, with operators self-reporting revenues and the state holding only limited means of verification.
Dieudonné Ntumba, coordinator of the Gambling Monitoring Unit, has called for closer cooperation with gambling operators to promote fair competition while combating financial crime.
The DRC is simultaneously preparing a new legal framework for the gambling industry, aiming to modernise existing regulations and strengthen fiscal control mechanisms across the sector.
This regulatory overhaul is partly driven by the need to align the DRC’s gambling market with wider anti-money laundering obligations currently demanded internationally.
The country faces pressure linked to its Financial Action Task Force grey-list status, requiring more robust systems to prevent illicit financial flows from undermining economic stability.
Observers have previously warned that without a single unified regulator and a credible central monitoring system, the DRC risks significant fiscal revenue continuing to slip through its fingers.
Industry stakeholders, including PixLab RDC, have welcomed the government’s efforts to bring greater transparency and accountability to a sector that has long operated in relative obscurity.
