Betting Operators Owe the State 27.5 Billion Birr, Lottery Service Finds

Licensed sports betting and lottery operators failed to hand over an estimated 27.5 billion birr in commissions, fines, licence-renewal fees and registration payments over four years, according to an investigation by the Ethiopian Lottery Service reported by Fana.

What the investigation found

The Lottery Service ran its own review of the country's sports betting and digital lottery sector and concluded that licensed operators had not met their obligations under four separate headings: commission, fines, licence renewal, and payment due on registration. Fana put the total the government went without at 27.5 billion birr in the last four years alone.

Birr Metrics, covering the same findings, attributed them to an investigative report by Fana Broadcasting Corporate and said the report draws on a draft document. Neither outlet has published what that draft contains.

A rebuild, not a reopening

Birr Metrics reports that Ethiopia is preparing to rebuild the sector under a technology-driven regulatory system. Neither report spells out what that means in practice — which functions move onto a regulator-run platform, who builds it, or when.

The growth figure is the other half of the story. Birr Metrics says the shortfall accumulated during a period of explosive growth in betting transactions, which puts the state's revenue gap and the sector's turnover on the same upward curve. A collection problem that scales with the industry is a different kind of problem from a one-off default.

Open

Neither report names the operators, says how many licences are involved, or gives a timetable. It is not stated how much of the 27.5 billion birr the state expects to recover, whether any of it is being pursued through the courts, or what penalty the new regime would carry for the same failure.

Sources: Birr Metrics, 19 September 2026, Fana Television, 19 September 2026