Mozambique’s Council of Ministers has approved a new legal regime for online gambling, giving games of chance played through electronic or computer media their own concession framework separate from physical casinos.
According to Club of Mozambique and RTP, the decree treats online gambling as a remote activity carried out through electronic platforms, computer systems or other digital means. It recognises it as an autonomous, independent modality with its own requirements, instead of folding it into the rules for land-based casino concessions.
The move builds on Law 1/2010, which already allowed games of fortune or hazard to be explored via computer systems and gave the government power to approve the specific regulations for that form of play. The law defined gambling as an activity carried out in casinos or specially authorised machine rooms, under state concessions.
That 2010 law also set out broader aims for the sector. Among them were promoting gambling activity linked to tourism and entertainment centres, and generating tax and foreign-currency revenue.
The timing matters because casino receipts have weakened. RTP reported that in 2025 the state collected 359.5 million meticais from casino taxes, equal to 54% of the 666.1 million meticais budgeted for the year and 7.3% less than the 387.7 million meticais collected in 2024. In 2024, the target had been 1.2 billion meticais and only 34% was realised.
The Ministry of Finance blamed the weak performance on a “significant increase in online games”, saying this had reduced the number of players going to casinos. That explanation ties the new regulation to a broader shift already visible in the tax data.
Mozambique’s existing casino regime is detailed. RTP reported that concession companies must have almost 2.7 million dollars in share capital and invest at least 5.5 million dollars in the first five years. The Special Tax on Gambling is set at 20% to 35% depending on the duration of the concession, while Stamp Duty equals 50% of the price of casino entry tickets.
Concessionaires are also exempt from other taxes on gambling profits and from import duties on equipment and materials used exclusively for casino operations. Club of Mozambique reported casino and slot-machine concessions in Maputo, Matola, Beira, Tete, Nampula and Pemba, with private investment of around 36 million dollars in developments involving those concessions.
The new decree gives online gambling an autonomous place in Mozambique’s gambling system.
