Uganda's State Minister of Finance for Planning, David Bahati, has told the BBC the government plans to take over sports betting in the country following a presidential directive.

He did not specify when this would happen or how this would be legally done considering 45 companies are licensed to run operations in the country.

He said the plan was to no longer license or renew the licences of foreign companies operating sports betting businesses in Uganda.

Mr Bahati said the goal was to collect revenue for the country.

He was quoted by Daily Monitor saying the ban was a directive from President Yoweri Museveni to protect the the youth from harmful effects of betting.