ROAD TO TANZANIA: GRAF 2027 SETS THE STAGE FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER OF AFRICAN GAMING REGULATION
After four landmark days in Maputo, Africa’s gaming regulators are already looking ahead and the road leads to Dar es Salaam.
TANZANIA– The next chapter of Africa’s gaming regulatory conversation will unfold in Tanzania. At the close of the 17th GRAF Conference in Maputo, Mozambique held from 14 to 17 September 2026, Dar es Salaam was confirmed as the host city for GRAF 2027, bringing the continent’s regulatory community back to East Africa for another defining gathering.
The announcement brought a fitting close to a conference that had already set a high bar. Held under the theme “Regulation for Transformation. Safer Gambling. Smarter Regulation. Stronger African Collaboration,” GRAF 2026 placed technology, responsible gambling, data intelligence, and cross-border cooperation at the very centre of Africa’s regulatory conversation, and the debates it sparked will carry all the way to Tanzania.
FROM MAPUTO TO DAR ES SALAAM
Gaming Board of Tanzania Director General James Mbalwe, who represented Tanzania at GRAF 2026 and delivered a presentation during the conference, accepted the hosting rights on behalf of his country. For Mbalwe, the selection is recognition of Tanzania’s commitment to cooperation, knowledge sharing, responsible gaming, innovation, and effective regulation.
GRAF President Mabutho Zwane described the return to Tanzania as a homecoming for the forum, noting that GRAF’s approach is to rotate the annual conference across member states and broaden its reach beyond the Southern African Development Community. The move reinforces the increasingly continental character of an organisation that defines itself as a platform for African gaming regulators to exchange knowledge, address common challenges, and strengthen cooperation across jurisdictions.
WHAT GRAF 2026 DISCUSSED: THE CONVERSATIONS THAT WILL SHAPE DAR ES SALAAM
If Maputo is any guide, three themes are likely to shape the road to Dar es Salaam: Technology and data. GRAF 2026 featured discussions on artificial intelligence, real-time monitoring and cyber risks. Speakers stressed that regulators need technology that keeps pace with fast-evolving gaming markets. They also highlighted evidence-based decision-making and stronger information-sharing between jurisdictions.
Responsible Gambling and Player Protection
As more gaming activity migrates to digital and mobile platforms, the challenge of building regulatory systems that can monitor markets effectively while responding to emerging risks has become more urgent than ever. The conversations in Maputo made clear that responsible gambling is no longer a compliance checkbox for African regulators, it is a foundational priority that is reshaping how monitoring systems are designed, how data is collected, and how interventions are triggered.
Cross-Border Cooperation
With digital gaming platforms operating seamlessly across jurisdictions, African regulators are increasingly looking beyond their own national markets towards coordinated enforcement, information sharing, and common approaches to emerging challenges. GRAF’s leadership has identified stronger cooperation between member states as a central part of the forum’s wider mission and the conversations in Maputo added both urgency and specificity to that ambition.
The Maputo Table: Women Leading Africa’s Gaming Future
During the four days, women leaders from across Africa’s gaming ecosystem came together for The Maputo Table, a powerful, candid, and deeply human conversation on leadership, resilience, mentorship, integrity, and the future of gaming regulation on the continent. From breaking barriers and challenging assumptions to creating spaces and opportunities for others, the discussion captured the determination and growing influence of the women who are quietly and not so quietly reshaping Africa’s gaming ecosystem.
Their collective message was both a declaration and a challenge to the industry: Lead with confidence. Lift others. Speak up. Create opportunities. And when there isn’t a seat at the table, build one.
It was a moment that AfriplayHub will not forget, and one that the road to Tanzania must carry forward.
THE ROAD AHEAD
The period between Maputo and Dar es Salaam will be more than a countdown to another industry gathering. It represents an opportunity for regulators across Africa to deepen the conversations started at GRAF 2026 and translate those discussions into practical, actionable regulatory approaches that serve the continent’s players, markets, and communities.
For Tanzania, hosting GRAF 2027 places Dar es Salaam at the centre of that work and gives the country an opportunity to showcase its regulatory experience while convening the continent’s most important regulatory voices for another defining conversation.
As the road to Tanzania begins, attention will increasingly turn to the themes, speakers, partnerships and regulatory priorities that will shape the 2027 programme.
One thing is already clear: after Maputo, the conversation continues in Dar es Salaam.
