How to get a gambling licence in Cameroon: fees and steps

The Decree gives the regulatory functions to two bodies and names neither by statute: the Minister in charge of games, who grants online authorisations by arrêté (arts 97(1), 101), and an Agence de Régulation des Jeux that gives its opinion on every concession and online authorisation (arts 5(1), 97(1)).

• No instrument creating the Agence de Régulation des Jeux or naming the minister in charge of games is published on the ministry, Prime Minister’s Services, Presidency, Finance Ministry, tax authority or telecoms regulator sites searched.
• The Decree delegates key terms to texts that are not published: the Minister’s arrêté on grant and renewal conditions (art 9), the Prime Minister’s arrêté on the entry and renewal fees (art 125(3)), the cahier des charges annexed to each authorisation (art 98) and the Health Minister’s arrêté on the warning message (art 112(2)).
• No text amending the Decree is published on the official sites searched, and no bill or draft decree on gambling appears in the Presidency’s lists. That is a statement about those lists, not proof that nothing is in preparation.
• No public licence register or count of holders exists. The Minister’s file of authorised online operators is an administrative file, not an open register (art 105).

Laws that apply

• Law No. 2015/012 of 16 July 2015 on the regime of entertainment, money and chance games (its text is not published on the official sites searched; its provisions are read through the Decree and the tax texts)
• Decree No. 2019/2300/PM of 18 July 2019 (arts 1-135): concession, authorisation and declaration regimes; online games arts 82-105; player protection arts 111-115; sanctions arts 116-122; fees arts 125-126
• Code Général des Impôts 2026 (games tax arts 206-220, VAT, money-transfer tax arts 228 bis to 228 sexies, licence contribution arts C25-C31, annual games levy art C132), as amended by Finance Law No. 2025/012 of 17 December 2025 (in force 1 January 2026)
• Law No. 2016/007 of 12 July 2016 (Penal Code), ss. 249 to 249-9: gaming offences
• CEMAC Regulation No. 02/24 of 20 December 2024 on AML/CFT/CPF · Law No. 2010/012 (cybersecurity) · Law No. 2010/021 (e-commerce) · Law No. 2015/018 (commercial activity) · Law No. 2024/017 (personal data)

The Decree knows three regimes: concession, authorisation and declaration (art 3). For online activity the relevant one is the authorisation for online games, which the Decree defines as online betting and online poker (art 82(3)). Each grant is individual, non-transferable and may not be leased (art 123).

• The Decree sets no cap on the number of online authorisations. The examination weighs socio-economic interest, job creation, tourism interest and the promoter’s lasting financial capacity (art 104).
• The Decree does not say whether online betting and online poker need separate authorisations. The application states the nature of the online games to be run (art 103(1)) and the register records the categories authorised (art 105).
• The Decree does not say whether one authorisation can cover several brands, domains or sites. It requires a site on a .cm domain, in the singular (art 103(3)), and has no per-brand fee.
• A foreign licence is not recognised by any article.

An online authorisation may be requested by a promoter whose registered office is in Cameroon or in a State with “formal and continuing economic relations” with Cameroon (art 99). The Decree defines neither phrase nor lists qualifying States, so the position of a foreign company is for the Minister.

• A company with its seat abroad must have a subsidiary in Cameroon (art 85(2)). The Decree mentions no branch, permanent establishment or representative office, and names no legal form.
• No minimum share capital is set by the Decree. The promoter must show human and material means and financial information attesting solidity (art 86). Any capital floor comes from the legal form chosen and is not given here.
• The application identifies the owner or registered office, the Cameroonian subsidiary, the legal structure, the managers and, for a share company, everyone holding more than 5% of capital or voting rights and anyone controlling it (art 85(1), (3)).
• The promoter must be of civil majority, not convicted of violence or threats of violence, and of good morals (art 2). No sentence threshold or rehabilitation rule is stated.
• A bank account at a credit institution established in Cameroon is required (art 94(2)), together with security guaranteeing the return of all amounts due to players (art 88(1)).
• No business plan or financial projections are listed in the dossier. The cahier des charges, which is not published, may ask for more.
• No platform or game certificate is named for the application. The Minister decides after the opinion of the Agence and of the body in charge of equipment homologation and electronic certification (art 97(1)), which the Decree does not name. No testing laboratory is named and no pre-application approval exists.
• A refusal must be reasoned and notified (art 100). The appeal body and time limit are not stated in the Decree.

One figure is fixed by the Decree: the 200,000,000 francs bank guarantee in the dossier. The “droit d’entrée” payable on grant, and the “droit de renouvellement” on renewal, are set by a Prime Minister’s arrêté that is not published (art 125(3)), so no first-year total can be given as of 21 October 2026.

• The Decree does not say whether, when or on what conditions the bank guarantee is released or drawn on.
• No responsible-gambling levy or charitable contribution is set for online operators. Operators report yearly on responsible-gambling actions (art 113(1)).
• Costs with no published figure: the security audit of the platform (art 103(2)), the bailiff’s authentication of the game rules and the stamp duty on the application.
• No per-domain or per-brand fee is set, and whether a further online product under an existing authorisation carries a fee is not stated.

The games tax is 15% of turnover, defined as the gross product of the games, paid to the Communes (CGI arts 206, 210-211). The 2% annual levy, the money-transfer tax and VAT come on top. Winnings are not taxed in the hands of players.

• For betting the Decree states the base as the stakes less distributions to players, tax included (art 31(3)-(4)).
• No deduction is provided for bonuses or promotional credits; neither text mentions them for tax.
• A game operator with no seat in Cameroon must give a bank guarantee in an amount set by the Finance Minister (CGI art 213). Where the place of taxation differs from the seat, a solvent accredited representative resident in Cameroon is required for VAT (art 130(1)).
• From 1 January 2026 a non-resident digital-sector enterprise with more than FCFA 50 million billed or more than 1,000 users in Cameroon owes a final 3% tax on gross revenue from Cameroon, plus communal additional centimes of 10% of the tax; online games are named among digital services (CGI art 5 ter, art C83(1)).
• There is also a general advertising stamp duty of 3% of the invoiced cost per medium (CGI art C74(1)).

The Decree sets technical duties through the application and the cahier des charges rather than named standards. No GLI, ISO or national standard is imposed, and the cahier des charges is not published.

• Domain: the site must be reachable only through a top-level domain ending in .cm (art 103(3)).
• Platform description: the application describes the platforms and software and, for each game, how game data are made available to the Agence in real time or deferred (art 89). The Agence’s representatives must have access to the premises holding the data carrier (art 90). The format and channel are not set.
• Security audit: online gaming platforms are subject to mandatory security audits of their information systems (art 103(2)). Law 2010/012 art 32 provides an audit each year or when circumstances require, carried out by the ANTIC. The Decree does not say who performs the audit for gaming platforms or what it costs.
• Servers and cloud: no rule requires servers in Cameroon, a mirror server or an approved cloud provider. Transfers of personal data abroad need the prior authorisation of the Personal Data Protection Authority (Law 2024/017 s. 32(1)).
• Game design: betting must redistribute at least 50% of stakes before any tax (art 31(2)). No RTP, stake, spin-speed, autoplay or bonus-buy rule appears in the Decree.
• Data kept: for each player account the stakes, winnings, financial movements and balance (art 84), and the player’s identity, age, address and payment account (art 91(1)). Closed online-lottery accounts are kept six years (art 61(2)).
• Changes: any change to the information in the application goes to the Agence within 30 days (art 102). Changes to identity, structure, directors, 5% holders or finances are notified to the Minister, the Finance Minister and the Agence (art 87).

The Decree puts the player-protection duties on the promoter: registration checks, payment rules, self-exclusion and self-limitation tools, a warning message and a free complaints procedure.

• The Decree provides a telephone help line billed as a local call (art 114(2)). The article that says who provides it is missing from the official copy, and no number is published.
• No duty to show a licence number or regulator mark on the site, and no cooling-off, reality-check, loss-limit or VIP rule is set.
• Advertising: the Decree has one rule, that a gaming site carries no advertisement for, or link to, a business that lends money to players (art 115(3)). General rules apply: online advertising must identify the advertiser and any promotional offer, with conditions easily accessible (Law 2010/021 art 5(1)); direct marketing needs prior consent (art 7).
• A licensed operator’s advertisement, by any means, that targets minors is a crime: one to three years or a fine of FCFA 10,000,000 to 20,000,000 or both (Penal Code s. 249-6).
• Whether channel rules exist for television, radio, outdoor, social media, influencers or sports sponsorship is not published: the general advertising law (Law 2006/018) and Law 2015/012 are not on any official site reached, and no approval or time-slot rule appears in the texts held.

CEMAC Regulation 02/24 lists “Casinos, including Internet casinos” and gambling providers among the persons subject to it. The authority that issues the authorisation also supervises its AML compliance (art 50).

• Before starting, the online promoter files an activity declaration with the Minister and the financial-investigation structure, with proof of the origin of funds (art 88(2)). It must show capacity to fight money laundering (art 95) and report yearly to the Agence on its AML controls (art 113(2)).
• Under the Regulation: a documented risk assessment updated every two years, a control officer at management level, staff training, an independent audit function, customer identification before the relationship starts, and enhanced measures for remote customers and politically exposed persons (arts 14-15, 20-23).
• Reporting: cash transactions of FCFA 5,000,000 or more to the financial intelligence unit (art 18); suspicious transactions forthwith (art 105); casinos identify players at FCFA 1,000,000 or more and keep registers ten years (art 49).
• No requirement that the control officer be local. A fine of FCFA 500,000 to 10,000,000 applies to managers and employees of casinos and gaming establishments, which may be doubled for a repeat offence (CEMAC Regulation 02/24 art 134).
• Other reports: an annual responsible-gambling report to the Agence (art 113(1)); notice without delay of variations in the player-funds guarantee (art 88(3)); notice of a personal-data breach immediately to the Personal Data Protection Authority (Law 2024/017 s. 22(1)).
• Enforcement: the Minister may close an establishment or terminate the title (art 116), and online games run without a title are closed immediately (art 121). The Decree names no blocking method.
• Criminal penalty: operating online gaming without authorisation, or using another’s licence, carries six months to two years or a fine of FCFA 5,000,000 to 25,000,000 or both (Penal Code s. 249(1)). Offences under ss. 249 to 249-3 may be settled by a compromise with the gaming regulatory entity (s. 249-8). Corporate bodies and their natural-person officers can both be liable (s. 74-1).
• No player offence for staking with an unlicensed operator was found in the texts available; Law 2015/012, whose text is not published, could add one. No decided fine has been published by an official source as of 21 October 2026.

The Decree licenses promoters, not suppliers. It creates no licence, registration or approval for game providers, platform providers, aggregators, hosting or payment providers.

• A game or platform provider that only supplies a licensed promoter needs no local licence. The promoter describes the platforms and software it uses in its application (art 89(1)), and the approval attaches to the operator’s platform, not to the provider.
• An aggregator or provider that offers games to the public for money is itself a promoter and needs the authorisation, with the seat and subsidiary rules above (arts 82(1), 85(2), 99).
• What a supplier must build for an operator: real-time or deferred data access for the Agence (art 89), player registration checks and an anti-robot code (arts 91-92), account crediting through a payment service provider (art 92(3)), closed-account handling (art 93), self-exclusion, self-limitation and balance display (art 112), a .cm site (art 103(3)) and the security audit (art 103(2)).
• Payment providers are licensed by the monetary authority after the Banking Commission’s opinion, not by the gambling authority (BEAC/COBAC Regulation 04/18 arts 5, 23). A press-reported rule since January 2025 that all online payments go through one aggregator has no official text and is unconfirmed.
• No foreign supplier licence, test report or certificate is recognised, and no register of suppliers or certified games exists. Machines for casinos, betting and lotteries (land-based) need an import authorisation and legal-metrology homologation (arts 11, 70).
• White-label and turnkey arrangements are not named. Authorisations are individual and may not be leased or transferred (arts 97(2), 123), and using another’s authorisation is an offence (Penal Code s. 249(1)).
• Supplier tax: the games tax and levy fall on the title holder. A non-resident supplier may fall under the 3% digital-sector tax on its gross Cameroonian revenue (CGI art 5 ter), and a special income tax of 15% applies to sums paid abroad for services and software used in Cameroon, withheld by the payer (CGI arts 225, 225 ter).

The route the Decree sets for an online betting or poker promoter, in order. The receiving office and the number of copies are not stated for online files, so confirm them with the Service des Jeux before filing.

1. 01

   Confirm the product and the seat

   betting and poker only; seat in Cameroon or a qualifying State

   Only online betting and online poker have an authorisation category (art 82(3)). A company seated abroad must have a Cameroonian subsidiary (art 85(2)) and the registered office must meet the test of art 99.

2. 02

   Set up the Cameroonian entity and bank account

   subsidiary; account at a Cameroon credit institution

   Form the subsidiary and open an account at a credit institution established in Cameroon (art 94(2)). Arrange the security that guarantees the return of all amounts due to players (art 88(1)).

3. 03

   Obtain the bank guarantee attestation

   200,000,000 francs

   Obtain an attestation of a guarantee of 200,000,000 francs from a first-rank bank approved by the monetary authority. It must be in the dossier (art 103(1)).

4. 04

   Prepare and file the dossier

   on paper; stamped application

   Assemble the stamped application, specifications, bailiff-authenticated game rules, identity papers or statutes and a criminal-record extract under three months old. Describe the platforms, game data access, player checks and payments (arts 85-96, 103). The dossier is on paper; no electronic channel is described.

5. 05

   Wait for the opinion and the arrêté

   no statutory decision period

   The Minister grants the authorisation by arrêté after the opinion of the Agence and of the equipment-homologation and electronic-certification body (arts 97(1), 101). The Decree sets no decision period or tacit-grant rule for online files. A refusal must be reasoned and notified (art 100).

6. 06

   Pay the entry fee and file the activity declaration

   fee amount not published

   The entry fee is set by a Prime Minister’s arrêté that is not published (art 125(3)). Before starting, file the activity declaration with the Minister and the financial-investigation structure, with proof of the origin of funds (art 88(2)). Take the liability insurance (art 127).

7. 07

   Go live and keep up the filings

   quarterly levy, monthly games tax

   Serve players from the .cm site only (art 103(3)), complete the platform security audit (art 103(2)), connect the barred-persons check (art 111) and file the games tax monthly and the 2% levy quarterly. Renew the authorisation after five years (art 97(2)); the renewal filing deadline and fee are not published.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 23 Oct 2026.