The regulator of the future will not be defined by the number of licences issued or fines levied, but by how effectively it understands, protects and serves customers, the Chief Executive Officer of the Gambling Authority Botswana, Moruntshi Kemorwale, has said.
Kemorwale made the remarks during his presentation at the 17th Annual Gaming Regulators Africa Forum (GRAF) Conference, currently underway at the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre in Maputo, Mozambique.
The conference, running from September 14 to 17 under the theme “Regulating for Transformation”, has brought together regulators, operators and industry stakeholders from across the continent to discuss responsible gambling, player protection and oversight of a rapidly evolving digital market.
Artificial intelligence and technology have featured prominently on the opening days of the conference, with sessions examining smarter regulation, AI-driven risks and cybersecurity.
Speaking during the high-level regulatory panel, Kemorwale said Africa’s gambling landscape has fundamentally shifted. With +90 percent of activity migrating online, a mobile-first, youthful demographic and an explosion of new products, the traditional compliance-only model is no longer fit for purpose.
“The regulator of the future should be customer-focused,” he told delegates. “Our primary mandate is no longer just to regulate the industry, but to regulate for the people who use the industry. If we lose sight of the customer, we lose the legitimacy of regulation itself.”
From Gatekeeper to Guardian
Kemorwale outlined three pillars of a customer-focused regulator:
The second thrust of Kemorwale’s presentation was a call for African regulators to move from anecdote-based to data-led regulation.
Echoing earlier sessions where speakers challenged delegates to consider how technology, big data and AI could strengthen harm prevention beyond basic compliance, he argued that technology is now the regulator’s most powerful ally.
“Every bet, every deposit, every session leaves a digital footprint. As regulators, we must have the capability to see patterns of vulnerability long before the player themselves realizes they have a problem,” he said.
He proposed a continent-wide shift toward:
He warned that without investment in these tools, regulators risked being outpaced by both technology and the illegal market.
“The question is not whether technology will disrupt gambling regulation. It already has. The question is whether we will use that same technology to protect the most vulnerable,” he concluded.
The GRAF Maputo conference continues until end of this week with closed-door regulator roundtables on harmonization of consumer protection standards, anti-money laundering, and cross-border enforcement against illegal gambling.
