A new business program that would allow foreign gambling operators to acquire temporary licenses was greenlit in Nigeria. The program will allow offshore companies to acquire five-year permits to offer their products in the country.
Nigeria Launches New Permit Program
The National Lottery Regulatory Commission of Nigeria, which is leading the new program, will carefully check applicants’ anti-gambling harm and anti-money laundering measures to determine whether they are satisfactory. Once approved for launch, operators will need to pay $100,000 to acquire the five-year permit. In addition, they will have to pay an additional $50,000 for each year they operate in Nigeria. Lastly, companies will have to file a non-residence business request to the Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria (FIRS).
Permit holders will be able to legally offer gambling and sports betting in the country. This covers all kinds of casino games, slots and bingo. The best thing is that approved operators will not be required to create a local arm, thus allowing them to concentrate their resources on upping the quality of their online offerings.
The Lottery Commission will be responsible for regulating the permit program and will have the power to revoke licenses if it identifies any major compliance breaches.
E-Technologies Believes Nigeria’s Approach Is a Game-Changer
Nigerian authorities emphasized that permit holders will have to diligently obey the new tax collection system. The country currently uses a system developed by E-Technologies Global, a leading British provider of tax-related solutions. Thanks to the latter’s in-house Sentinel System, the FIRS can directly collect gaming duties. Currently, Nigeria takes a 4.5% share of all deposits players make with legal operators. However, as non-domicile businesses, license holders will be exempt from other taxes.
The aforementioned Sentinel system will see E-Technologies support Nigeria’s Lottery Commission and the FIRS by helping them tax foreign permit holders. The Company will also help the latter bodies determine whether a company has sufficient compliance measures to be granted a permit.
Mohammad Nami, FIRS’ executive chair, said that the challenging times require governments to increase tax revenue. That’s why FIRS chose to trust E-Technologies’ Sentinel System, which has so far impressed his team. According to him, it allowed the body to collect tax revenues at the source but also doubled as a monitoring tool.
Meanwhile, David Kicks, E-Technologies’ CEO, said that his team is honored to have the Nigerian government’s trust. He lauded the agreement as a “landmark deal” that will usher in a new format of regulation. Kicks believes that more jurisdictions may adopt a similar approach to Nigeria’s when it comes to regulating offshore gambling as solutions such as E-Technologies will allow for efficient taxation.