The P1 Billion betting Craze
Lewanika Timothy - Opelo Rakereng | Monday January 19, 2026 09:25
This marks a dramatic leap from the P234 million recorded in 2024, representing a staggering 400 percent year-on-year growth according to the latest figures from the Gambling Authority.
The surge has been driven largely by the explosive rise of online betting platforms, which have transformed gambling from a niche leisure activity into a mass-market digital habit. Every month, Batswana are now placing billions of pula in wagers, fueled by smartphone access, aggressive marketing, and round-the-clock betting options.
Gross Gambling Revenue (GGR), defined as the difference between the amount wagered by punters and the winnings paid out by betting companies, has ballooned at a pace that has caught both policymakers and regulators off guard. Industry participation has also skyrocketed. The number of active bettors, previously estimated at just over half a million, is expected to surpass 700,000 registered players.
The P1 Billion revenue surge, excluding an additional P500 million that is happening in illegal betting sites, highlights the surging growth that is an outlier by regional benchmarks.
This week, the Gambling Authority, during a presser, revealed that Botswana was experiencing above normal growth in gambling adoption, with industry insiders and licensed operators expected to take in the dough heavily during this financial year.
The authority's acting CEO, Moruntshi Kemorwale, said that by December 2025, gambling revenue had exceeded the P700 million by far and was on track to surpass the P1 Billion set for March this year. “We expect gambling revenue to exceed the P1 billion target by March this year. This is driven by a growing adoption of betting in the country,” he said
Participation has also risen sharply, with the number of active bettors previously estimated at just over 500,000is now projected to exceed 700,000 registered players, equivalent to nearly one in three adults. The growth in the betting population comes just before the country explores reducing the statutory betting age from 21 to 18 in order to increase the number of players and grow the market.
Last year, data from GA showed that punters in the country reportedly placed bets worth P150 million in one month, demonstrating the explosion in gambling activities in the country, particularly those involving sports and online platforms. In that month, of the country’s betting population of 550,000, only 40% or about 220,000 used licensed operators, highlighting the continued nuisance of illegal betting platforms.
Since early this year, when the Gambling Authority moved to license several online sports betting players, the country has seen a huge uptake of gambling activities, particularly amongst younger people.
Lured by the promise of easy pickings and low entry criteria, such as one Pula bets online, growing numbers of punters are spending the day making bets on a variety of sporting events around the world, searching for “the big score”.
However, the boom is not without its cracks. The Gambling Authority has reported the presence of consumer complaints, citing non-compliance by operators, delayed payouts, misleading promotions, and breaches of responsible gambling rules.
Despite the P1 Billion gambling revenue craze, the Authority has stressed that the headline revenue masks a harsher reality. “People are losing, not winning,” the regulator said, noting that sustained growth in GGR mathematically implies rising consumer losses, with the house ending up as the winner as always.
From a fiscal perspective, the gambling windfall offers the government a new, albeit volatile, revenue stream at a time of tightening public finances. Gambling levies, license fees, and associated taxes are expected to contribute tens of millions of pula to the fiscus this year. Yet market watchers caution that over-reliance on gambling revenues carries social costs that could outweigh short-term fiscal gains, including household indebtedness, addiction-related health pressures, and reduced disposable income.