Online gambling in Cameroon: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Cameroon?

Law No. 2015/012 of 16 July 2015 and Decree No. 2019/2300/PM of 18 July 2019 organize gambling under three regimes: concession for casinos, betting shops and public lotteries (ten-year contracts signed by the minister in charge of games after the opinion of the Agence de Régulation des Jeux), authorization for online betting and online poker (five years, non-transferable), and declaration for minor amusement games. A foreign company must operate through a Cameroonian subsidiary, lodge a 200 million CFA franc bank guarantee, run its site on a .cm domain, hold a Cameroonian bank account and guarantee player balances. Operators pay a 15% tax on gross gaming proceeds plus corporate tax, and since 1 January 2025 platform deposits and withdrawals carry a 1% money-transfer tax. Google began accepting gambling advertising from ARJ-licensed operators on 19 August 2025.

Regulated: Private operators can hold a local licence for online casino and/or betting.

Who regulates gambling in Cameroon?

• Ministère de l'Administration Territoriale (MINAT) — Minister in charge of games: signs casino, betting and lottery concession contracts, grants five-year online gaming authorizations and keeps the register of authorized online operators
• Agence de Régulation des Jeux (ARJ) — Gaming regulatory agency created by the 2019 decree: receives applications, gives its opinion on concessions and authorizations, homologates equipment and supervises operators' game data
• Direction Générale des Impôts (DGI) — Collects the 15% tax on games of chance and amusement, the money-transfer tax on gambling platforms and corporate taxes

Cameroon gambling licence: how it works

Land-based casinos, betting establishments and public lotteries operate under a concession contract signed by the minister in charge of games after the ARJ's opinion; the file is lodged with the ARJ, which forwards it within 30 days, and the minister has 90 days to decide, after which the concession is deemed granted. Concessions run ten years and casino promoters lodge a bank guarantee of 25 to 250 million CFA francs by category. Online betting and online poker require a separate five-year, non-transferable authorization from the same minister after the opinion of the ARJ and the electronic certification body, open only to promoters headquartered in Cameroon or in a state with formal economic relations with it. The applicant discloses owners above 5%, proves financial capacity, describes platforms and game data flows, guarantees player balances through a surety, insurance or escrow, files an activity declaration with the financial intelligence unit and submits to IT security audits. Applications are judged on socio-economic interest, job creation, tourism value and financial sustainability.

What an applicant needs

• Cameroonian company or subsidiary of the foreign promoter, with registered address and taxpayer card
• Bank guarantee of 200 million CFA francs for online gaming; 25 to 250 million for casinos by category
• Disclosure of every shareholder above 5% and of directors, with recent criminal record extracts
• Website accessible only through a .cm domain, with mandatory IT security audits
• Cameroonian bank account; player accounts funded only through licensed payment providers
• Surety, insurance or escrow guaranteeing repayment of all player balances
• Bailiff-authenticated game rules and game data made available to the ARJ
• Age, identity, address and payment-account verification for every new player

Gambling taxes in Cameroon

• Operators: The tax on games of chance and amusement is 15% of turnover, defined as gross gaming proceeds including accessory receipts, under Articles 206 to 211 of the General Tax Code, allocated to local councils; slot machines also pay a flat annual tax of 100,000 CFA francs per machine. Corporate income tax applies on top. Since 1 January 2025 the money-transfer tax applies at 1% (instead of 0.2%) to transfers and withdrawals through gambling platforms, plus 4 CFA francs per transaction. The 2026 Finance Law (Law 2025/012 of 17 December 2025) taxes non-resident digital businesses with a significant economic presence at an effective 3% of gross Cameroonian revenue.
• Players: No separate statutory tax on winnings is published; the 1% money-transfer tax is borne on each platform withdrawal, and practitioners report that some operators withhold on large payouts, so confirm treatment with the DGI.
• Also: An operator without a registered office in Cameroon must lodge a bank guarantee fixed by the Minister of Finance for the gaming tax. Unclaimed player balances on closed accounts pass to the State after three years.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Advertising is permitted for authorized operators; the decree bars any advertising for lenders on gaming sites and requires the protection of minors in all communications. Google has accepted gambling advertising in Cameroon from ARJ-licensed operators since 19 August 2025, making the ARJ register the practical reference for platforms.

Responsible gaming

Minimum age 18. The decree prohibits betting on credit and loans to players, requires self-exclusion on request, obliges operators to publish responsible-gaming information and a free complaints procedure, and allows the minister to ban individuals from play.

Identity and age verification

Operators must verify each new player's identity, age, address and the payout account, open accounts only at the player's initiative and hold balances in a guaranteed structure; AML and counter-terrorist-financing capacity must be shown to the financial intelligence unit before launch.

Payments

Player accounts may be funded only through instruments provided by a payment service provider, in practice MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money in CFA francs, and operators need a Cameroonian bank account. Every platform transfer or withdrawal carries the 1% money-transfer tax. Cryptocurrency is not an authorized funding method.

Notable restrictions

• Online authorization is limited to online betting and online poker; casino games are conceded to land-based casinos
• Mandatory .cm domain and Cameroonian subsidiary for foreign promoters
• 200 million CFA franc bank guarantee and a guarantee covering all player balances
• No betting on credit and no loans to players
• Minimum age 18
• Unauthorized operators face closure and criminal penalties under Law 2015/012

Cameroon iGaming market: size, players and payments

No official market-size statistics are published; the 2025 and 2026 finance laws describe online gambling as a fast-growing flow worth taxing.

Football betting dominates among young urban men in Douala and Yaoundé, funded through mobile money; land-based casinos serve the main cities.

Mobile money is the funding rail for online betting, which is why the 2025 Finance Law targeted platform transfers and withdrawals with a 1% tax.

The Pari Mutuel Urbain Camerounais holds the horse-race betting concession, several casinos operate under type A to D concessions, and online sports betting brands including 1xBet, Premier Bet and Betwinner compete alongside local operators; MINAT keeps the register of authorized online operators.

Timeline: how Cameroon got here

1. 2015-07Law No. 2015/012 of 16 July 2015 sets the regime for amusement, money and chance games
2. 2019-07Decree No. 2019/2300/PM details concessions, online authorizations, the Agence de Régulation des Jeux and player-protection rules
3. 2022-01Money-transfer tax introduced on electronic transfers and withdrawals
4. 2025-012025 Finance Law raises the money-transfer tax to 1% for gambling platforms plus 4 CFA francs per transaction
5. 2025-08Google accepts gambling advertising from ARJ-licensed operators in Cameroon from 19 August
6. 2025-122026 Finance Law (Law 2025/012) taxes non-resident digital businesses with significant presence at an effective 3% of gross revenue

Outlook

Cameroon's framework is stable but taxation is tightening: the 2025 and 2026 finance laws added the platform transfer tax and a minimum tax on non-resident digital businesses, and the ARJ register now gates access to major advertising platforms. Expect further fiscal measures in each finance law and closer scrutiny of operators serving Cameroonians without a MINAT authorization. No overhaul of Law 2015/012 was pending as of September 2026.

Launching in Cameroon with GameBridge

Turnkey (your licence, our platform). The online authorization is granted to a Cameroonian company or subsidiary that the operator controls, so the operator holds the authorization and runs on GameBridge technology; GameBridge holds no Cameroonian authorization and does not guarantee approval.

A Cameroonian brand on GameBridge runs on a .cm domain with French and English as site languages, an XAF wallet, and geo-controls limited to Cameroon. MTN Mobile Money and Orange Money are connected on request through the operator's licensed payment providers, with the 1% money-transfer tax handled in the payout flow, and player balances are ring-fenced to support the guarantee the decree requires. The identity step verifies age, address and the payout account, the responsible-gaming module enforces the ban on credit, self-exclusion and complaint handling, and the data layer exposes game records for ARJ access. GameBridge Studios and Originals ship with the certification package the electronic certification body reviews.

• French and English site languages with XAF wallet
• Mobile money deposits and payouts on request with transfer-tax handling
• Identity, age, address and payout-account verification
• Self-exclusion, no-credit controls and free complaints workflow
• Game data access and reporting for the ARJ
• Sportsbook and poker configured to the authorization scope
• Certification package for GameBridge Studios and Originals builds

Online authorizations cover betting and poker, so the sportsbook and poker room carry a Cameroonian brand; casino content is configured only where the operator also holds a casino concession.

Frequently asked questions

Sources and review

Reviewed against the sources below on 11 September 2026. Regulation changes; confirm the current position with local counsel before launch.

• Décret N° 2019/2300/PM du 18 juillet 2019 précisant les modalités d'application de la loi n° 2015/012 fixant le régime des jeux de divertissement, d'argent et de hasard — Services du Premier Ministre du Cameroun, accessed 2026-09-11
• Code Général des Impôts (mis à jour au 1er janvier 2023) – Taxe sur les jeux de hasard et de divertissement — Direction Générale des Impôts du Cameroun, accessed 2026-09-11
• Loi N° 2024/013 du 23 décembre 2024 portant loi de finances pour l'exercice 2025 – taxe sur les transferts d'argent — Présidence de la République du Cameroun, accessed 2026-09-11
• Loi de finances 2026 : comprendre les nouvelles mesures — Ministère des Finances du Cameroun, accessed 2026-09-11
• Cameroun : la taxe sur les transferts d'argent étendue aux jeux de hasard en ligne — News du Cameroun, accessed 2026-09-11
• Google autorise les publicités pour les jeux d'argent au Cameroun — CameroonOnline, accessed 2026-09-11

Regulatory summaries are provided for orientation only and are not legal advice. Licensing requirements change; we validate them with you during scoping.