Namibia’s state-owned gambling houses record 2.8 mln USD in revenue

WINDHOEK, Jan. 22 — Namibia’s state-owned gambling houses records 39. 4 million Namibian dollars (about 2.84 million U.S. dollars) in revenue in 2018, public relations officer at the Ministry of Environment and Tourism Romeo Muyunda announced Tuesday.
According to him, in the previous financial year, the ministry made a total of 29.8 million Namibian dollars (2.15 million U.S. dollars).
“The state owned gabling houses and casinos have been contributing massively to the country’s GDP for the past years. We hope to make more revenue from this institutions,” Muyunda said.
Meanwhile, the minister tabled a draft law meant to control the gambling industry which is said to have an estimated 20,000 illegal slot machines right across the country.
The tabling of the gaming and entertainment control bill last year turned the directorate of tourism and gaming into a state-owned entity called the gambling board which will be presided over by eight officials.
The law shields gamblers, make sure more money flows to the state while the bill is bent to create a central monitoring system to track electronic slot machines across the country.
According to available data, Namibia has about 260 licensed slot machine operators, of which six are casinos, while 254 are gambling houses.
Namibian government currently owns a total of 2,845 registered slot machines (1,145 in casinos and 1,700 in gambling houses), which contribute about 22 million Namibian dollars to government coffers annually.

Xinhua