KAMPALA, Uganda — When governments tighten their grip on an industry, the objective is often straightforward: improve oversight, collect more taxes and protect consumers. But as Uganda prepares to overhaul how every gambling transaction is processed in the country, one industry leader believes the biggest challenge is no longer the policy itself—it’s whether the technology, economics and execution can keep up.

That is the message from Najib Balinda, Chief Business Development Officer at Genius Gaming Consult (GGC) and Director at Netbet Uganda, who has emerged as one of the most outspoken voices analysing the government’s proposed centralized gambling payment gateway.

In an interview first published by iGaming Business on June 17, Balinda laid out a series of practical concerns that extend far beyond compliance, arguing that while the government’s intentions are understandable, implementation will ultimately determine whether the reforms strengthen Uganda’s regulated gaming market—or unintentionally weaken it.

A Policy Built on Good Intentions

The proposed amendment to Uganda’s Tax Procedures Code would require all licensed betting companies, casinos and gaming operators to process deposits and payouts through a single government-approved payment gateway linked to the Uganda Revenue Authority (URA).

On paper, the proposal promises greater tax transparency, reduced revenue leakage and stronger anti-money laundering controls.

Balinda does not dispute those goals.

Instead, he believes the conversation should now shift from “why” to “how.”

The Crypto Challenge the Government Cannot Ignore

One of Balinda’s strongest warnings concerns cryptocurrency.

He argues that while the centralized gateway can monitor traditional financial transactions, it cannot effectively track decentralized blockchain payments.

“A fiat gateway cannot track on-chain crypto movements directly,” Balinda explained.

In practice, he says, excessive regulation may simply encourage technologically savvy bettors to migrate toward offshore crypto casinos, virtual private networks (VPNs) and peer-to-peer payment systems that exist entirely outside Uganda’s regulatory framework.

Rather than increasing visibility, an overly restrictive system could unintentionally create new blind spots.

An Alternative Worth Considering

Balinda also believes government policymakers may be overlooking a more resilient solution.

Instead of forcing every payment through a single processing point, he suggests allowing licensed operators to continue handling their own transactions while transmitting real-time payment data directly to government monitoring systems.

Such a reporting-based architecture, he argues, would still deliver tax transparency and anti-money laundering oversight without concentrating every transaction into one technical bottleneck.

More importantly, it would eliminate what engineers refer to as a single point of failure—where one outage has the potential to disrupt an entire industry.

Betting Everything on One Gateway

Perhaps Balinda’s greatest concern revolves around operational reliability.

Uganda’s betting industry experiences dramatic transaction spikes during major football matches, international tournaments and weekend fixtures.

While a centralized system may appear capable under normal conditions, Balinda warns that peak demand presents a very different test.

“While theoretically possible with high-availability cloud infrastructure,” he noted, transaction volumes during major sporting events can surge by 10 to 20 times normal levels.

That pressure, combined with Uganda’s heavy dependence on mobile money services, creates additional technical risks.

API timeouts, delayed confirmations, mismatched transaction statuses between telecom providers and payment gateways, unstable USSD sessions and failed STK Push requests could quickly snowball into operational disruptions affecting both operators and customers.

When systems fail, Balinda says, the consequences extend beyond technology.

“Network downtimes can cause huge unresolved transactions that affect the business, and customers become impatient while such issues are being resolved.”

For betting operators, trust is often measured in seconds.

A delayed deposit before kickoff or a payout stuck in processing after a winning bet can rapidly damage customer confidence.

Privacy Questions Still Need Answers

Beyond system performance, Balinda believes data governance deserves far more public discussion.

Integrating betting operators with URA systems inevitably involves transmitting customer information through secure APIs.

While acknowledging the importance of regulatory oversight, he warns that centralized storage of sensitive Know Your Customer (KYC) information raises legitimate privacy concerns.

How that information is stored, who can access it and what safeguards exist against misuse remain questions many operators would like answered before implementation begins.

Compliance Should Not Become Punishment

Balinda also highlights the financial burden facing licensed operators.

Many companies will not simply plug into a new payment gateway overnight.

Existing betting platforms must be redesigned, payment systems integrated, software tested and operational procedures updated.

For many medium-sized operators, Balinda estimates implementation could require between two and four months, with timelines extending even further where third-party platform providers are involved.

He cautions against unrealistic expectations, noting that integration costs vary widely depending on each operator’s technology stack.

Building Regulation That Lasts

The debate surrounding Uganda’s gambling reforms has largely focused on taxation and enforcement.

Balinda believes the bigger issue is long-term sustainability.

If regulation becomes overly expensive, technically fragile or operationally cumbersome, the market risks pushing legitimate operators toward exit while illegal platforms continue operating outside the regulatory net.

Strong regulation, he suggests, is not simply about increasing control.

It must also preserve competitiveness, encourage compliance and protect the very businesses that choose to operate legally.

Industry Voices Call for Careful Implementation

Balinda’s concerns were echoed by Innocent Davis Bamurike, founder and chief executive of an upcoming African sportsbook, who also urged policymakers to phase implementation carefully rather than introducing sweeping reforms simultaneously.

Together, their observations reflect an industry that broadly supports stronger regulation but is urging government to ensure the supporting infrastructure is capable of delivering what the law intends.

The Road Ahead

Uganda’s gambling sector is entering one of its most significant regulatory transitions in years.

If implemented effectively, the centralized payment gateway could improve transparency, strengthen tax collection and reinforce confidence in the regulated market.

But as Najib Balinda argues, success will depend not on legislation alone, but on whether the underlying technology, governance structures and implementation strategy are built to withstand the realities of a modern digital betting industry.

As policymakers finalize the reforms, the questions Balinda has raised may prove just as important as the legislation itself.

Editor’s Note: This article is based on an interview with Najib Balinda, Chief Business Development Officer at Genius Gaming Consult (GGC), originally published by iGaming Business on 17 June 2026. It has been adapted and expanded by Genius Gaming Consult with a primary focus on Balinda’s insights and analysis for the Ugandan gaming industry.