Online gambling in Madagascar: regulation, licence and market guide

Is online gambling legal in Madagascar?

Gambling in Madagascar still rests on Law n°71-011 of 30 June 1971 on gaming houses and its 1972 implementing decree, under which casinos are authorized by interministerial order and supervised by the Ministry of Interior and Decentralization, with the national lottery authorized by a 1986 decree and police oversight from the Service Central des Courses et Jeux. There is no licence class for online operators: online sports betting has run since 2018 through PMU Madagascar's Bet261 under state-linked arrangements, and the authorities declared the international brand 1xBet illegal in August 2025. Bill n°019/2026 of 2 June 2026, filed with the National Assembly on 28 August 2026, would create four licence categories including online gambling, a national monitoring platform, a minimum age of 21 and a ban on credit betting; it was not adopted in the September 2026 extraordinary session and was carried over.

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

Who regulates gambling in Madagascar?

• Ministry of Interior and Decentralization – Direction de l'Administration du Territoire (MID) — Manages and controls gambling and gaming establishments under Decree 2025-1139; would license all four gambling categories and run the national monitoring platform under Bill 019/2026
• Service Central des Courses et Jeux, Ministry of Public Security (SCCJ) — Police service overseeing races and games; declared unlicensed international betting platforms illegal in 2025
• Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF) — Fiscal oversight of casinos, betting and the national lottery; co-signs casino authorizations

Madagascar gambling licence: how it works

Land-based casinos are authorized by interministerial order under Law n°71-011 of 1971 and Decree n°72-033 of 1972, historically signed by the Prime Minister and the ministers of finance, interior and tourism, with slot machines outside casinos regulated by a 1997 interministerial order. The national lottery operates under Decree n°86-369 of 1986, a state delegate was designated in the 1990s to coordinate games of chance nationwide, and PMU Madagascar offers horse race and sports betting including the Bet261 online brand under state authorizations. No text creates a licence for independent online casino or sportsbook operators, so no such licence can be obtained today. Bill n°019/2026 would replace the 1971 law and a February 2026 decree with a single framework of four categories, each requiring its own licence from the Ministry of Interior: casinos in hotels rated three stars or more, stand-alone casinos, betting and lotteries, and online or network gambling. Existing operators would have one year from adoption to renew their licences under the new law.

What an applicant needs

• Casino: interministerial authorization under the 1971 law and 1972 decree for approved premises
• Betting and lottery: participation through the state's delegated arrangements; no independent licence route today
• Under Bill 019/2026: separate licence per category, connection to the national monitoring platform, age and capacity verification of players, anti-money-laundering controls
• Under Bill 019/2026: no credit to players and no advertising of lending services on gambling platforms
• Under Bill 019/2026: re-licensing of existing operators within one year of adoption

Gambling taxes in Madagascar

• Operators: Not published in consolidated form; casinos pay levies on gaming revenue under the 1971 framework and the general tax code, and the national lottery and PMU betting remit to the state under their authorizations. Bill 019/2026 is intended to bring online operators into the tax net; rates would follow in the finance law.
• Players: Not published; there is no specific tax on winnings in the current texts.
• Also: The government's stated aim for the 2026 bill is to capture online gaming taxes that cannot be collected from operators licensed elsewhere.

Advertising, player protection, KYC and payments

Advertising

Advertising by unlicensed platforms is treated as illegal, and in 2025 the Service Central des Courses et Jeux required national media to publish a correction stating that 1xBet holds no Malagasy licence. Bill 019/2026 would prohibit gambling platforms from advertising or linking to lending services.

Responsible gaming

The 1978 ban on Malagasy nationals entering casinos was lifted in 1997; current rules focus on premises and minors. Bill 019/2026 sets the gambling age at 21, requires verification of age and legal capacity, bans credit betting and mandates responsible gambling tools such as self-exclusion and deposit limits for licensed online operators.

Identity and age verification

Casinos apply identity checks at entry under premises rules; Bill 019/2026 would require licensed online operators to verify age and capacity and to feed live player data into the Ministry of Interior's monitoring platform, with enhanced anti-money-laundering procedures.

Payments

Bet261 and the lottery accept MVola, Orange Money and Airtel Money mobile wallets alongside cash at agents; MVola reported more than 10 million customers in 2023 and offers automatic Bet261 withdrawals. Credit betting would be banned outright under the 2026 bill.

Notable restrictions

• No licence class for independent online casinos or sportsbooks under current law
• Unlicensed international platforms are declared illegal by the Ministry of Public Security
• Casinos require interministerial authorization and approved premises
• Bill 019/2026 would set a minimum age of 21 and ban credit betting
• Bill 019/2026 penalties: licence suspension or revocation, fines and prison terms of up to five years

Madagascar iGaming market: size, players and payments

No reliable public estimate; the regulated segment consists of land-based casinos in Antananarivo and tourist areas, PMU horse race and sports betting including Bet261, and the national lottery.

Mobile money is the payment layer for legal betting, led by MVola with more than 10 million customers in 2023 alongside Orange Money and Airtel Money.

PMU Madagascar's Bet261 is the only online betting brand operating under a Malagasy authorization; a small number of licensed casinos operate on land, and international sites without local authorization are treated as illegal.

Timeline: how Madagascar got here

1. 1971-06Law n°71-011 of 30 June 1971 regulates gaming houses; Decree n°72-033 of 1972 sets casino organization
2. 1986-10Decree n°86-369 authorizes operation of the national lottery
3. 1997-05Order n°4754/97 lifts the 1978 ban on Malagasy nationals entering casinos; slot machines outside casinos regulated
4. 2018PMU Madagascar launches Bet261 online betting under state-linked arrangements
5. 2025Service Central des Courses et Jeux declares 1xBet illegal (25 August); Decree 2025-1139 assigns gambling control to the Ministry of Interior
6. 2026-02Government decree on gambling issued, later folded into the draft law
7. 2026-06Bill n°019/2026 of 2 June on gambling activities and gaming establishments is published by the Ministry of Interior
8. 2026-08Bill 019/2026 filed with the National Assembly on 28 August; not adopted in the extraordinary session and carried over

Outlook

Bill 019/2026 is the decisive pending item: the National Assembly's second extraordinary session of 2026 adopted only two of seven bills and deferred the gambling text, and the Assembly's president has asked for a further session to finish the deferred bills. If adopted and promulgated, Madagascar would for the first time license online gambling operators, connect them to a national monitoring platform, set the gambling age at 21 and impose criminal penalties on unauthorized operators, with existing operators re-licensing within a year. Until then, no online licence can be obtained and international platforms remain illegal in the authorities' view.

Launching in Madagascar with GameBridge

Model decided with counsel. Madagascar has no online licence today and treats unlicensed international platforms as illegal, so GameBridge international brands geo-block the country by default; if Bill 019/2026 becomes law, a turnkey deployment for a Malagasy licensee becomes realistic, and GameBridge holds no Malagasy authorization.

GameBridge brands exclude Madagascar through geo-controls by default, and whether any internationally licensed operator may accept Malagasy residents is a question for that operator's counsel, not a configuration GameBridge offers. For an operator preparing for the 2026 law, the platform can be staged in French and Malagasy with an MGA wallet, MVola, Orange Money and Airtel Money rails through the operator's own agreements, a 21+ age gate, no-credit rules, self-exclusion and deposit limits, and a reporting feed designed for the Ministry of Interior's planned monitoring platform. The catalog would be curated to games with certification the future regulator accepts, and GameBridge Studios and Originals ship with their certification package.

• Madagascar on the default geo-exclusion list pending adoption of Bill 019/2026
• MGA wallet with MVola, Orange Money and Airtel Money rails on request once licensed
• 21+ age gate, no-credit rules and self-exclusion aligned with the draft law
• Reporting feed designed for the planned national monitoring platform
• French and Malagasy site content
• Certification package with every GameBridge Studios and Originals release

Football and horse race betting lead the legal market; a future licensed brand would draw on the aggregated catalog of {providersAvailable} game providers and GameBridge Studios exclusives once the regulator's certification requirements are known.

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.

• Projet de loi n°019/2026 du 02 juin 2026 portant réglementation des activités liées aux jeux d'argent et des établissements de jeux (textes législatifs) — Assemblée nationale de Madagascar, accessed 2026-09-11
• Assemblée nationale : seul deux projets de loi sur sept adoptés — Madagascar-Tribune, accessed 2026-09-11
• Madagascar Steps From a Grey Market Toward a Regulated Jurisdiction with Bill No. 019/2026 — iGaming Afrika, accessed 2026-09-11
• Madagascar Draft Law Sets New Rules for Gambling Sector — AlienWP, accessed 2026-09-11
• Décret n°2025-1139 fixant les attributions du Ministre de l'Intérieur et de la Décentralisation — Government of Madagascar (cnlegis.gov.mg), accessed 2026-09-11
• Arrêté n°8294/98 portant autorisation d'ouverture et d'exploitation d'un casino (citing Law 71-011, Decree 72-033, Decree 86-369) — Lexxika, accessed 2026-09-11
• Rectificatif officiel concernant la plateforme 1XBET — Midi Madagasikara, accessed 2026-09-11
• MVola Corporate Impact Review 2023 — MVola, 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.