Tanzania’s gaming laws explicitly bar children from gambling. The Gaming Act (Cap. 41, R.E. 2023) sets 18 years as the legal gambling age: “a person shall not permit or cause a person of the age below eighteen years” to linger at, sit at, or wager in any gaming premises. Importantly, the Act also establishes the Gaming Board which responsible for regulating all gaming activities including, determining and considering gaming advertisements and license applications which can exercise these powers to limit exposure of “children and other vulnerable persons” from gaming-related content. In short, Tanzania’s statutes create a clear, comprehensive legal baseline: under-18s are excluded from all forms of gambling.

These legal provisions are backed by detailed regulations. The Gaming Regulations (2003) defines a minor to mean a person under the age of 18 years. Also, it specifies, that a license will not be granted for any casino, slot room or bingo hall located near schools, places of worship, hospitals, or other areas “allowing minor clientele”. Licensed operators must also meet strict premises and safety standards, violation of age rules is a criminal offence (TZS 1–5 million fine and/or up to 12 months’ imprisonment).Further, The Gaming (Internet Gaming) Regulations, (2022) provides for strict age Verification which provide for ID checks or biometric verification for all gaming customers ensuring no one under 18 gains access to gambling by operators having a system that verifies age. Despite this legal framework, media reports confirm underage gambling persists, suggesting enforcement gaps and confirms that gambling introduces numerous challenges.

 Mitigation Strategies:

To curb underage gambling, authorities should enforce and supplement the existing rules with robust measures. Key strategies include:

Collaborating with Local Government Authorities (LGAs) to Prevent Underage Betting and enhancing licensing controls:  We advise LGAs and Gaming Board to work together to enforce gaming laws which prohibit underage Gaming. The LGAs in collaboration with the Gaming Board can monitor all gaming machinery including slot machines (stationary and non-stationary) and heavily penalize operators that allow usage of gaming machinery by children. Additionally restricting opening and licensing of any type of betting activities near schools and sports grounds. The Gaming Board should heavily fine operators that do not verify ages of players before allowing entry into any betting shops and or locations that have betting machinery including Bars and any other locations that possess betting machinery (indoor & outdoor). The laws exist and provide penal provision for underage gaming; the problem is enforcement of these laws and that is why we advise this collaboration.

Financial Incentives:  To better protect children from exposure to gambling, the Gaming Board should introduce a cash reward system for anyone who reports gaming operators that allow minors to participate. This would encourage people—especially parents, teachers and community members—to speak up when they see something wrong. If a report leads to action, the person who raised the alarm would receive a financial reward, helping turn everyday citizens into active guardians of youth safety.

Digital Safeguards: Notably, the child-protection provisions under the Cybercrimes Act provide a legal foundation for criminalizing online schemes that exploit children. These provisions may be extended to include underage participation in online gambling, thereby strengthening protections for vulnerable users.

To effectively further safeguard children from online gambling, the Gaming Board of Tanzania may consider establishing a dedicated department focused on cyber gambling and child protection. This department would be responsible for handling inquiries, addressing public and legal concerns, managing case, and coordinating with law enforcement on matters involving children and online gambling.

In addition, the Gaming Board could collaborate with schools, community organizations, and media outlets to launch public awareness campaigns that educate families and young people about the risks of underage gambling.

Furthermore, the Board may work with Internet Service Providers to implement network-level filtering solutions and parental controls. These technical measures would help restrict children’s access to gambling websites and applications, thereby reinforcing digital safeguards and promoting a safer online environment.

The technology involved in gaming evolves much faster than laws and regulations. The Gaming Board will have to invest in more technical staff to keep us with this everchanging and fast paced gaming tech environment.  Additional, regulation and laws alone cannot extinguish underage betting.  It will require a inter ministerial cooperation, vigorous enforcement of existing laws, tight regulation of new media channels and targeted campaigns to educate families and communities about the negative effects of underage betting. The later has the biggest role to play as they are closest to the children.