The government ban on sports betting will only affect foreign owned firms.
The Finance, Planning and Economics Development Minister, Matia Kasaija clarified this during the dissemination of a report by the Equal Opportunities Commission on the Compliance of the National Budget Framework Paper and Sector Budget Framework Papers with Gender and Equity Requirements in Kampala.
He explained that government will stop issuing sports betting licenses to foreign owned companies at the end of 2019. His remarks come days after the Finance State Minister, David Bahati said government had banned sports betting and gambling because it was distracting youths from productive work.
However, Kasaija says that they have decided to stop licensing foreign companies so that Ugandans can benefit from the sector. On the claims that sports betting is distracting youth from productive work, Kasaija says they will encourage them to first work before turning to gambling.
According to the Uganda Lotteries and Gamings Board, it is estimated that Ugandans spend over Shillings 150 billion in Casinos, slot machines, lotteries and betting annually. Over Shillings 30 billion is collected in taxes from games and betting companies.
