Casino Marina: Lilongwe’s glitzy gaming den ‘set to shut its doors’, 30 jobs hang in the balance

Malawi’s glamorous Casino Marina, nestled inside the five-star Golden Peacock Hotel in Lilongwe, is reportedly set to close its doors for good this Friday — putting around 30 jobs on the line, Nyasa Times understands.

The high-rolling venue is said to have been slapped with a hefty tax bill that management insists is simply impossible to swallow, given the business’s current performance.

“The business has not been performing well, and the tax we are expected to pay is punitive. We have no choice but to close,” a senior manager reportedly said.

If confirmed, the closure would mark the end of the road for one of Lilongwe’s flashiest entertainment venues, leaving roughly 30 staff facing an uncertain future — casualties, it seems, of a brutal squeeze between a punishing tax burden and disappointing returns.

Background

Casino Marina Lilongwe burst onto the scene in November 2016 with much fanfare — a lavish launch complete with live entertainment, a fashion show and cash draws worth over K100,000.

Backed by a major Chinese holding company with sister casinos already operating in Sri Lanka, Zambia and Mozambique, the venue was billed from day one as a slice of five-star glamour in the heart of the capital.

Housed within the plush Golden Peacock Hotel Complex in Area 13, the casino quickly established itself as one of the largest gaming establishments in the country, boasting around 70 slot machines and roughly 20 gaming tables offering everything from blackjack and roulette to baccarat, Three Card Poker and Texas Hold’em, alongside a restaurant serving international cuisine and two VIP high-roller rooms.

In the years since, Casino Marina has been held up as a symbol of Lilongwe’s growing casino trade, credited with helping put the capital on the map as a gambling and tourism destination, alongside a handful of other venues that have since sprung up in its wake.

Its potential closure would represent a dramatic fall for a venue once seen as a flagship of Malawi’s gaming industry — and raises fresh questions over the tax environment facing entertainment and leisure businesses operating in the country.