BUJUMBURA, January 9th (ABP) – The Cabinet met on Wednesday, January 3, 2024, in Gitega, under the chairmanship of the President of the Republic of Burundi, Evariste Ndayishimiye.
According to a press release from the General Secretary Office of the State, among the items that were analyzed include the draft public-private partnership contract between the State of Burundi and the N-SOFT and B-DIGITAL CONTROL Consortium on the optimization of the revenues of the State of Burundi arising from gambles (games of chance) as well as the Draft joint ministerial ordinance establishing the modalities for collecting royalties and contributions to socio-economic activities received in the context of the operation of the gambles in Burundi.
Those bills were presented by the Minister of Commerce, Transport, Industry and Tourism, Mrs. Marie Chantal Nijimbere.
In order to optimize revenues generated by the gaming sector in Burundi, the State of Burundi has obtained a private partner with proven experience in this area, which is the N-SOFT and B-DIGITAL CONTROL Consortium.
That partner has already taken note of the needs expressed by the State of Burundi and has expressed its desire to be part of a win-win partnership. To that end, the partner presented a technical and financial proposal to the State of Burundi. After analysis, the State of Burundi estimated that the proposal implements highly reliable solutions allowing it to achieve the objectives it has set for that draft contract.
Thus, the State of Burundi and the N-SOFT and B-DIGITAL CONTROL Consortium have agreed on the regulatory paths and technical means to achieve this.
The main purpose of the draft contract is to set the conditions and terms under which the parties agree for the optimization of revenues from games of chance and the monitoring of this sector.
The contract is concluded for a non-renewable period of 5 years. According to the provisions of the draft contract, commissioning will take place within 3 months from the date of signing the contract by all parties. The royalties that the State undertakes to establish in this sector of games of chance are released in such a way that 10% is on the players’ stakes, 10% on the players’ winnings and 5% on the gross product of the gambling operators in Burundi.
At the end of the analysis, the draft contracts and ordinance were passed with recommendations. At the level of the draft contract, the deadline for remuneration of the partner must be extended to two days instead of the 24 hours proposed. It is also necessary to specify the monetary unit used for the amount of the investment. At the level of the draft ordinance, it is necessary to refer to the law relating to the general organization of public administration, to refer to the most recent text which reorganizes the LONA, to comply with the provisions of the tax law in force with regard to the penalties to be applied for late payment of royalties and contributions, access the law regulating games of chance, to know the prohibited games and regulate recognized games.