International online sports betting operators could be barred from operating in Kenya if new legislative proposals are approved.

Kenya was considering new gambling legislation last year before that bill was scrapped and its tax provisions inserted into a separate Finance Bill. The government promised at the time to introduce a new gambling bill that would impose tighter curbs on the gaming industry.

In late December, Kenyan MP Jakoyo Midiwo introduced a draft of a new Betting, Lotteries and Gaming (Amendment) Bill that would dramatically revamp the country’s gambling landscape, including requiring all online gambling firms to be wholly owned by Kenyan nationals.

Earlier this month, Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) chairman Anthony Kimani Kung’u told Business Daily Africa that while Kenya’s existing gambling legislation was “in dire need of alignment with the phenomenal growth of the industry,” he felt Midiwo’s legislative proposals had “shortcomings that will roll back significant gains made in the industry.”