Overview & insight Chad gambling outlook

Chad is a landlocked country situated in Central Africa; it is bordered by Libya to the north, Sudan to the east, the Central African Republic to the south, Cameroon and Nigeria to the southwest, and Niger to the west.

Indeed it is one of the underdeveloped countries in the world which is being ravage by Military and constitutional uprisings in early 2000s, with population of 14 million residents whilst, in terms of religion its a mixture of Muslims and Christians though, the country official languages are French and Arabic. In spite of this, there are multiple gambling establishment and organization in the country. Legal forms of gambling include casino gambling, sports betting poker, lottery draws, roulette, blackjack, slot machines and circle games.

Gambling is legal and regulated in Chad under the Chadian General Tax Code (Code General des Impots) as well as the Penal Code and its amended version provide regulation for the operation of gambling in the country particularly land-based. Though, unauthorized gambling establishments are illegal and punishable by two months in prison and up to 2.500.000 francs (about $ 4000). Operating in the country required a license and are taxable, the tax bases varies with games.

Although, unlike traditional gambling online gambling is not specifically regulated, as it is not expressly mentioned in the regulation by word of the law and with most of the online sector being unregulated, has no specific Chadian online betting licenses have been reported to be granted. Though there are several bookmakers that due to their land-based license do offer online betting in Chad, particularly the popular in the country are the PMU Bet Sport shops which offer attractive horse race betting games in Chad. Despite the domestic offer, many punters from the country are also reported to be frequent players on offshore online betting sites in the country as they are no laws which prohibit bettors from wagering on foreign betting sites. However, but with a relatively at a slow pace with internet growth rate in 2015, internet penetration which stood at 5% whilst, as at of 2019 internet penetration stood at 6.5% in 2019 according to Internet World Stats.

Chad’s Economy & Human development Index (HDI)

Though gambling is being influenced by economy situation of a country despite the challenges the nation has experience in recent years, however, Oil and Agriculture are the mainstays of Chad economy about 60% of export revenues, while cotton, cattle, livestock, and gum provide non-oil export earnings while the services sector contributed less one-third of GDP and has attracted foreign investment mostly through telecommunications and banking meaning this two key areas is important to the growth of gambling in the country. Indeed, considering the fact that the country reliance on crude oil and due to the drop in crude oil price globally has affected the country economy in recent years though the government implement an emergency action plan to counterbalance the drop oil revenue and diversify the economy through Chad’s national development plan (NDP) in 2018 part of the plan is to boost tourism in the country as well as the gambling sector. Though the country Gross Domestic Product (GDP) value represents 0.002 percent of the world economy an averaged 3.34 USD Billion from 1960 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 13.92 USD Billion in 2014 and a record low of 0.31 USD Billion in 1960 Source World Bank.

Chad’s HDI value for 2018 is 0.401 which put the country in the low human development category positioning it at 187 out of 189 countries and territories. Between 2000 and 2018, Chad’s HDI value increased from 0.298 to 0.401, an increase of 34.6 percent.

What the Future Holds

The country online betting is expect to experience high growth in few years time as the government is expected to give more attentions as other neighboring countries are embracing a digital economy in other part of region that’s one of the key to the growth of betting in Africa which is related to the mobile ecosystem, that has the potential to add over $150 billion in value to sub-Saharan Africa’s economy by 2022, according to GSMA. This is the equivalent to almost 8% of regional GDP. Key to unlocking this economic value, however, is the adoption of innovative and cost-effective solutions that are not restricted by existing infrastructure or topography. Though, if gambling is fully harnessed in this nation it could play a huge role in generating another source of revenue to the Chadian government.

Article by Adeleye Awakan

Associate/Editor www.gbc.ng Africa’s leading digital gaming magazine. For consultant on gaming in Africa, Bookmaker’s review, Content, Advertising, and Thoughtful leadership article contact: [email protected], Linkedin Adeleye Awakan.

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