Online gambling in Democratic Republic of the Congo: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Democratic Republic of the Congo?

The DRC long licensed betting and gaming through overlapping ministries, with the national lottery SONAL sub-licensing lottery-type products and the Ministry of Sports and Leisure issuing permits for other games. A Finance-led reform has changed that: the 2024 Finance Law moved the annual operating-authorization tax and the ad valorem tax on player winnings to the Finance ministry, a ministerial order of 30 July 2024 fixed their collection, the Council of Ministers adopted a draft gaming law in April 2025, and Ordinance 25/293 of 15 December 2025 assigned registration and regulation to Finance alone. Operators had to apply for accreditation through the Cellule de Surveillance des Jeux d'Argent et de Hasard (CSJA) by 31 March 2026, the pilot phase of the national supervision platform closed on 30 August 2026, and a permanent regulator (ARJA) is planned. As of September 2026 the public register listed no accredited operators yet.

Partially regulated: Some verticals are licensed (usually betting); others are prohibited or unaddressed.

Who regulates gambling in Democratic Republic of the Congo?

• Ministère des Finances – Cellule de Surveillance des Jeux d'Argent et de Hasard (CSJA) — Unit of the Ministry of Finance that registers and accredits gambling operators, runs the national supervision platform and keeps the public register pending creation of the Autorité de Régulation des Jeux d'Argent
• Direction Générale des Recettes Administratives, Judiciaires, Domaniales et de Participations (DGRAD) — Collects the annual operating-authorization tax and the monthly ad valorem tax on player winnings
• Société Nationale de Loterie (SONAL) — State lottery company that historically licensed lottery-type and betting products to private brands

Democratic Republic of the Congo gambling licence: how it works

Every operator of sports betting, casinos, lotteries, prediction contests and similar games, physical or online, must now be identified and accredited by the Ministry of Finance. Its communiqués of 31 August 2024, 5 March 2026 and 27 August 2026 require operators without a Finance accreditation to apply through the Direction de la Réglementation Financière or provincial finance divisions, obtain a collection note for the annual authorization tax and pay the ad valorem tax on winnings monthly. CSJA communiqué 017/2026 set 31 July 2026 as the identification deadline and 30 August 2026 as the end of the pilot phase, after which non-compliant operators face sanctions; operators are also being connected to a national supervision platform that collects betting and payment data. Older Sports ministry permits and SONAL sub-licences are being migrated into this system. Fees, capital requirements and licence categories will be fixed by the pending gaming law.

What an applicant needs

• Identification with the Ministry of Finance and an accreditation application through the CSJA or provincial finance divisions
• Payment of the annual operating-authorization tax against a DGRAD collection note
• Monthly declaration and payment of the ad valorem tax on player winnings by the 15th of the following month
• Connection to the national gaming supervision platform for betting and transaction data
• Compliance with AML requirements linked to the DRC's exit from the FATF grey list
• Local company and physical presence in the DRC, in practice required by the identification process

Gambling taxes in Democratic Republic of the Congo

• Operators: An annual tax on the authorization to operate a gambling or lottery business, payable to the DGRAD, plus ordinary corporate taxes. The rate schedule is in Ministerial Order 024/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2024 of 30 July 2024. A single tax on stakes collected through the national supervision platform has been proposed by the Finance ministry as part of the reform but was not in force at the review date.
• Players: An ad valorem tax on player winnings from games of chance, lotteries, prediction contests and betting, including online, collected by the operator and paid monthly to the DGRAD by the 15th of the month following payout; the rate is fixed by the 30 July 2024 order and was not published in the sources reviewed.
• Also: Article 46 of Finance Law 23/056 of 10 December 2023 moved these taxes from the Sports and Leisure annex to the Finance annex of Ordinance-Law 18/003 of 13 March 2018 on the nomenclature of central government taxes.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

No gambling advertising code is in force; the draft gaming law adopted by the Council of Ministers in April 2025 lists player protection and transparency among its objectives, and rules are expected once it passes.

Responsible gaming

Minimum age 18 under operators' terms and general law; no statutory self-exclusion or limit regime exists yet, and player protection is a stated goal of the pending law.

Identity and age verification

Operators identify players under the DRC's AML framework, strengthened during the country's FATF grey-list action plan; the national supervision platform is designed to trace transactions and betting flows.

Payments

Betting is funded through mobile money (M-Pesa, Orange Money, Airtel Money and Afrimoney) and cash at retail, in Congolese francs and US dollars. The supervision platform will interconnect regulators, operators and payment systems. Cryptocurrency is not part of the framework.

Notable restrictions

• All operators must be identified and accredited by the Ministry of Finance; other ministries' approvals are void
• Ad valorem tax on winnings must be declared and paid monthly
• Connection to the national supervision platform is required
• Minimum age 18
• Non-compliant operators face administrative measures and sanctions after 30 August 2026

Democratic Republic of the Congo iGaming market: size, players and payments

No official figure. Former Finance Minister Nicolas Kazadi estimated in 2023 that gambling turned over more than US$1 billion a year against about US$1 million paid to the Treasury in 2022, and counted 139 illegal or irregular operators; these are political estimates, not audited data.

Sports betting is concentrated in Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and other cities, funded by mobile money; the number of licensed operators and points of sale is not public.

Mobile money wallets from Vodacom, Orange, Airtel and Africell are the funding rail for online betting, and the reform's supervision platform is built to trace those flows.

International brands operate through local companies, for example 1xbet.cd run by Advanced Gaming under a national lottery licence, alongside Premier Bet and local betting shops; the CSJA register will show who is accredited once decisions are published.

Timeline: how Democratic Republic of the Congo got here

1. 2018-03Ordinance-Law 18/003 fixes the nomenclature of central government taxes, including gambling taxes under the Sports and Leisure annex
2. 2023-12Finance Law 23/056 for 2024 transfers the gambling authorization tax and the ad valorem tax on winnings to the Ministry of Finance
3. 2024-07Ministerial Order 024/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2024 fixes collection of the gambling taxes; operators told to pay the Direction de la Réglementation Financière from 31 August
4. 2025-04Council of Ministers adopts a draft law on the regulation of the gambling sector
5. 2025-06Ministry of Finance announces a national gaming supervision platform developed with Sharp Vision
6. 2025-12Ordinance 25/293 of 15 December assigns registration and regulation of gambling to the Ministry of Finance
7. 2026-03Finance ministry gives unaccredited operators until 31 March to apply for accreditation
8. 2026-08CSJA pilot phase ends on 30 August; Finance ministry communiqué of 27 August rejects Sports ministry claims over the sector

Outlook

The DRC is mid-reform. The draft gaming law adopted in April 2025 still needs parliamentary passage to create the planned Autorité de Régulation des Jeux d'Argent, set licence categories and fees, and possibly replace today's taxes with a single tax on stakes collected through the supervision platform. Until the CSJA publishes accredited operators, payment providers and partners cannot verify who is compliant, and the August 2026 dispute between the Finance and Sports ministries shows friction persists. The register, first accreditations and the law's passage are the milestones to watch in 2026–2027.

Launching in Democratic Republic of the Congo with GameBridge

Model decided with counsel. Accreditation now runs through the Ministry of Finance, but the licensing law, fees and categories are still pending and no accredited operators had been published as of September 2026, so any launch needs a case-by-case review with local counsel; GameBridge cannot guarantee accreditation.

The DRC is excluded by GameBridge geo-controls until a brand documents its Finance ministry accreditation. For an accredited brand the platform runs with French as the site language, CDF and USD wallets, and mobile money rails such as M-Pesa, Orange Money and Airtel Money on request through the operator's payment providers. The payout flow calculates the ad valorem tax on winnings and produces the monthly DGRAD declaration, the data layer feeds the national supervision platform, and identity checks enforce 18+ and AML screening. Responsible-gaming limits and self-exclusion are available ahead of any legal requirement.

• French site language with CDF and USD wallets
• Geo-controls opened only for a documented Finance ministry accreditation
• Mobile money deposits and payouts on request
• Ad valorem winnings tax calculation and monthly reporting
• Data feed for the national gaming supervision platform
• 18+ identity and AML screening with self-exclusion

Football betting and lottery-style number games lead; for an accredited brand the sportsbook carries the offer and casino content is curated to what the accreditation covers once categories are defined.

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.

• Communiqué du Ministère des Finances sur le secteur des jeux de hasard et pratiques assimilées — Ministère des Finances de la RDC, accessed 2026-09-11
• RDC : les sociétés exploitant les jeux d'argent appelées à payer les taxes d'autorisation — Agence Congolaise de Presse, accessed 2026-09-11
• La RDC somme les opérateurs de jeux d'argent de régulariser leur situation fiscale avant le 31 mars — LePoint.cd, accessed 2026-09-11
• Jeux d'argent et de hasard : le ministère des Finances lève l'équivoque sur la tutelle légale — Scoop RDC, accessed 2026-09-11
• Jeux d'argent : aucun opérateur n'est encore publié comme agréé après la fin du moratoire — LePoint.cd, accessed 2026-09-11
• RDC : la réforme des jeux entre dans sa phase décisive, avec Sharp Vision au cœur du dispositif — Le Potentiel, accessed 2026-09-11
• Paris en RDC : un marché à plus d'un milliard, un État qui n'en récoltait qu'un million — Beto.cd, 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.