Maputo, March 23, 2026 (Lusa) – Mozambique collected 359.5 million meticais (€4.8 million) in taxes from casinos in 2025, half of the government's target, and the government has previously acknowledged the impact of online gambling on these revenues.
According to 2025 budget execution data from the Ministry of Finance, this represents only 54% of the 666.1 million meticais (€8.8 million euros) budgeted for the entire past year.
The performance also represents a 7.3% drop compared to the 387.7 million meticais (€5.1 million) collected in 2024, a year in which the government's target in the budget proposal amounted to 1,235 million meticais (€16.4 million), with only 34% realised.
"The weak performance of this tax is justified by the significant increase in online games, a fact that somewhat reduces the influx of players to casinos," reads the budget execution report for the third quarter of 2025, in which the Ministry of Finance explained the constant declines.
A total of five "private sector-driven ventures" in this sector generated investments of $36 million (€31.2 million), announced in August 2024 by the then Mozambique's president, Filipe Nyusi, detailing that they are "prominent in the tourism chain," such as the concessions for casinos and slot machine rooms in Maputo, Beira, Tete, Nampula, Matola, and Pemba.
According to information from the National Directorate of Games of Chance of Mozambique, the granting of concessions for casinos in the country requires the commercial company of the concessionaire to have a share capital of no less than the equivalent of nearly $2.7 million (€2.3 million) and an investment, within five years, of at least $5.5 million (€4.7 million).
For the effective operation of games of chance, concessionaires must pay the Special Gambling Tax to the Mozambican State, levied on gross gambling revenues, at rates of 20% for concessions up to 14 years, 25% for concessions up to 19 years, 30% for concessions of 20 to 24 years, and 35% for concessions of 25 to 30 years.
"Concessionaires must also pay Stamp Duty, corresponding to 50% of the price of casino entry tickets," while they are exempt from paying other taxes levied on gambling operating profits, as well as import duties on capital goods and imported materials intended exclusively for casino operation.
PVJ/RYOL // ADB.
Lusa
