Henry Rotich, the Treasury Cabinet Secretary in Kenya, has introduced 10% excise duty on sports betting stakes.

“Betting has become quite spread and its expansion has had negative social effect particularly to the youth and vulnerable members of our society, and in order to curtail the negative effect arising from betting activities, I propose to introduce excise duty on betting activities at 10 percent at the amount staked,” Rotich said.

MPs who disagreed with the CS’s betting allocation has elicited reactions.

“I am disappointed of taxation, betting it has negative social effect for our young people and as National Assembly we suggested taxation should be 30 percent but today I was surprised the minister only increased by 10 percent, that will not cure the menace. Gambling has destroyed our society and we cannot continue raising our children through guess work. I am so unhappy with position of the minister where he has taxed only 10 percent… he should have taxed more as he did with beer and cigarettes,” Ndhiwa MP Martin Peters Owino said.

INTRALOT S.A. announces the signing of a new contract for INTRALOT Maroc, a subsidiary of the INTRALOT Group acting as the Games Operator in Morocco, with La Marocaine Des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS), the state sports lottery Organization of Morocco, following an international competitive procurement process, to provide the overall management and operation of its lottery, sports betting, and instant games across retail, internet, and mobile channels. The contract is for an initial 8-year term that can be extended up to another 2 years with the launch of the new operation on January 1st, 2020.

Under this new contract, INTRALOT Maroc, which has been offering its products and services to MDJS since 2010, will continue to supply the Organization with cutting edge lottery terminals and software solutions and provide the technical support and services to the Organization, the retailers and the players; will design and implement the marketing plans to contribute to the development and growth of the brands and the market; will expand the retail network to 1600 POS and further develop MDJS’ sales channels to enhance their performance and players’ omni-channel experience.

INTRALOT’s Group Deputy CEO, Mr. Nikos Nikolakopoulos commented: “MDJS has been a valued INTRALOT customer for the last decade and we are pleased to have been awarded with a new contract to continue our successful operation in Morocco. This agreement represents an exciting new chapter in our long-term relationship as well as the trust of the state sports lottery Organization in INTRALOT’s next generation solutions that will enable long-term innovation and growth for MDJS ultimately increasing revenues to good causes for the benefit of the Moroccan community.”

The High Court of Kenya has annulled the recently introduced ban on gambling ads.

“The ban was null and void and was tainted with illegality, unreasonableness, and procedural impropriety,” Justice John Mativo said.

Fred Matiang’i, the Interior Minister of Kenya, announced late last month that number of new rules in connection with how betting and gaming products were to be promoted in the country would be introduced.

Under those rules, gambling operators would have been required to submit all their ads for approval from the Betting Control and Licensing Board. In addition, ads of gaming and betting products would only have been permitted between 10 pm and 6am. Social media and outdoor advertising would have been fully banned in the African nation. The new rules also banned celebrity endorsements.

On May 20, Justice James Makau ordered that the implementation of the new gambling advertising restrictions be paused.