How to get a gambling licence in DR Congo: fees and steps

The Minister of Finance grants the approval by arrêté. Since 29 January 2026 the CSJA instructs approval applications, prepares the acts for the Minister’s signature and controls operators, online and physical (Arrêté 003/2026, art. 2).

• Arrêté 005/2024 gives the study of each file to the UGRJH, the unit created inside the Ministry on 26 January 2024. The CSJA now carries the application study and the supervision; the approval itself stays an act of the Minister.
• The CSJA arrêté creates no fee or levy on operators and sets no approval procedure. The 2024 rules on approval and on tax rates stand.
• The Ministry’s communiqué of 10 July 2026 says the CSJA was set up ahead of a future Autorité de Régulation des Jeux d’Argent (ARJA), while the gambling bill is before Parliament. Until it passes, ministerial arrêtés are the binding rules.
• The approval arrêté also counts as the operator’s registration with the Ministry (art. 30). Withdrawal is by arrêté of the Minister after the reasoned opinion of the studying unit (art. 46).
• The Ministry’s communiqués of 5 March, 10 July and 27 August 2026 tell companies operating without approval to identify themselves, and the 27 August communiqué says an approval, authorisation or payment note issued by an authority without competence has no legal effect.

Laws that apply

• Arrêté 005/CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2024 of 26 January 2024 (approval and registration; arts. 26 to 37 on conditions, file, approval, SONAL contract and monitoring platform)
• Arrêté 024/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2024 of 30 July 2024 (authorisation tax by segment and 10% tax on winnings)
• Arrêté 008bis/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2024 of 14 February 2024 (monitoring fee and SONAL’s share of the partnership)
• Arrêté 006bis/CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2024 of 26 January 2024 (the UGRJH) and Arrêté 003/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2026 of 29 January 2026 (the CSJA)
• Arrêté of the Governor General of 19 January 1901, Decree of 17 August 1927 on lotteries and Ordonnance-loi 11-141 of 16 May 1951 (the prohibition on which the State monopoly rests)
• Loi 22/068 of 27 December 2022 on AML/CFT, as amended by Loi 25/048 of 1 July 2025

There are no named licence classes. The Minister approves a game segment, and the authorisation tax is set per segment and mode of play (physical, digital/online, SMS/USSD).

• A separate approval is needed for each segment: the application states the game segments wanted (art. 27) and SONAL’s contract covers the segments named in the approval (art. 31).
• No cap on the number of approvals is set. Whether one approval can cover several brands, domains or websites is not addressed; the approval names the company and the segment.
• No B2B or supplier licence class exists. Suppliers are reached through the operator’s technical-partner list (see the supplier section).
• Land-based premises are classed I (casino), II (automatic gaming rooms and gaming circles), III (drinks outlets) and IV (betting-only places). They are outside this guide.

The applicant must be a legal person of Congolese law and a commercial company registered in the RCCM (Arrêté 005/2024, art. 26). The instruments make no distinction by country of origin.

• At least 15% of the capital must be held by Congolese national natural persons, and the company must not be a single-member company.
• A new company must show 5 years’ experience in managing games of chance, by its partner company or its managers.
• The managers must be of good morality and the applicant must not have been convicted for any cause. The studying unit controls the morality of managers and staff.
• A branch of a foreign company does not appear to qualify on its own: it is not a separate Congolese legal person. A foreign group sets up a Congolese company.
• No minimum share capital is set. The file instead asks for a bank attestation that the company can cover its three-year business plan.
• Premises must be suitable and identifiable (art. 33). The file must give an account opened with a credit institution established in the DRC, used exclusively for collections and payments.
• Foreign statutory managers are contemplated: the file asks for a certified copy of their residence permit. No local director or representative rule appears.
• Proof of the tax-clearance certificate and payment of the authorisation tax are conditions of approval, as is the technical interface with the Central Monitoring System (CMS).

The file is addressed to the Minister of Finance in two copies and has 15 items (Arrêté 005/2024, art. 27).

• No application or study fee is set: Arrêté 024/2024 art. 7 repealed the study fees of the 2023 arrêté, and Arrêté 005/2024 sets none.
• The CSJA publishes an operator identification form, filled in online (about 15 to 20 minutes) or on an official PDF. Its register page presents the form as the way to submit the application. The texts do not say whether it replaces the two-copy file; confirm with the CSJA.
• No regulator pre-approval of an application exists. The only prior approval in the arrêté concerns technical partners (art. 33).

The studying unit gives its opinion to the Minister within 30 days at most (art. 29). No period is set for the Minister’s decision or for the payment steps, and no overall timeline is published.

• The 30-day period is suspended while the unit asks for further information or opens a morality inquiry on the managers or a viability inquiry on the company.
• After a favourable opinion the applicant obtains a payment note, pays, and the Minister grants the approval on presentation of the payment slip (arts. 29 and 30).
• There is no separate list of refusal grounds. A refusal follows from failing the conditions of art. 26 or from an unfavourable opinion.
• The gambling instruments set no special appeal. The general administrative route applies: a recours gracieux, and a hierarchical appeal where needed, within three months of the act being made public, then the section du contentieux of the Conseil d’État within three months of notification (Loi organique 16/027, arts. 85, 150 and 151). Three months of silence after the appeal counts as rejection.
• The approval lasts one year from signature and is renewable. A missing renewal act can lead to withdrawal (art. 44).
• No application window is open as a standing rule. The Ministry set identification deadlines of 31 March 2026 (companies operating without approval) and 31 July 2026 (all companies operating gambling), and said its pilot phase ended on 30 August 2026. No later deadline is published.

Access is through the State monopoly. SONAL exercises it directly for lotteries and prognostics contests, and indirectly through a partnership with approved private companies (Arrêté 005/2024, arts. 3 to 5).

• The approval is followed by a partnership contract with SONAL covering the segments named in the approval (art. 31). The duration of the contract is set in the contract itself (art. 32).
• SONAL’s share is at least 20% of gross gaming product online and at least 15% physical, after deduction of the monitoring fee (Arrêté 008bis/2024, art. 5). Gross gaming product is stakes minus winnings paid, per month.
• The operator’s system must be aggregated to the Central Monitoring System before technical activity starts (arts. 26 and 36). The Ministry also needs an interface to the gaming platform and the connected payment and telecom interfaces (art. 33).
• The Note circulaire of 15 April 2025 directs private operators in gambling transactions to join the national digital platform.

The first payment is the authorisation tax, due after the favourable opinion. Amounts are fixed in US dollars and payable in Congolese francs at the official daily rate (Arrêté 024/2024, art. 1).

• The authorisation tax is annual and its annual payment depends on notification of the Minister’s favourable opinion. Arrêté 004/2024 made it payable by 31 January; Arrêté 024/2024 replaced the amounts and does not repeat the date, so confirm it with the Ministry.
• Each additional segment and each additional mode pays its own amount. No fee per brand or domain is set.
• No financial or bank guarantee, no responsible-gambling levy and no minimum share capital is required.
• The monitoring fee splits 40% to the Fonds d’Investissement Stratégique Congolais (FISG, as printed), 10% to the UGRJH and 50% to the technical provider. SONAL’s partnership revenues split 50% SONAL, 30% FISG for sporting activities, 10% to the Fonds national de promotion et de service social and 10% to the Ministry of Sports and Leisure.
• Defaults on declaration and payment follow the penalties of Ordonnance-loi 13/003; the arrêté does not state amounts.
• The 2027 finance bill proposes a levy on gross gaming product (arts. 100 to 102). It is a bill, not law.

The rules are few and name no technical standard (no name, version or date).

• The OCC is the certifying body named. The file carries its declaration for slot machines and other gaming equipment; Circular 2023/001 adds software, computers and servers, certified by the OCC or its partner. No other laboratory is named and no recognition of a foreign certificate is stated.
• Connection to the CMS is a condition of approval. No real-time reporting format is set; operators and their technical partners send financial flows and technical information to the Minister monthly (arts. 33 and 34).
• No rule on a local or mirror server, cloud hosting, geolocation or a .cd domain appears.
• Game rules must state who may take part, and no game-design limit (RTP, maximum stake, spin speed) is set.

No supplier licence, fee or register exists. The operator submits the list of its technical partners to the Minister for prior approval before contracting (Arrêté 005/2024, art. 33).

• Covered partners are the gaming platform, payment integrators, card payment and telecom/internet providers. The operator supplies copies of the contracts and of its commercial partners’ contracts.
• The text does not say on what grounds the Minister approves, or how long it takes. The technical partners report monthly to the Minister (art. 34).
• Circular 2023/001 asked for a technical partner approved by the World Lottery Association and the Association of African lotteries. Arrêté 005/2024 does not repeat this; ask the CSJA whether it still applies.
• The Note circulaire of 15 April 2025 asks the central bank to stop payment aggregators serving gambling operators and the telecom regulator to block illegal operators.
• Foreign supplier licences are not recognised and do not shorten any process. No rule requires a supplier to check that an operator is approved before supplying it.

Operators must protect minors and promote responsible gambling (art. 33), but few operational rules are set.

• No national minimum gambling age figure, mandatory deposit or loss limit, reality check or helpline requirement appears in the instruments. Minors are barred from gaming rooms (art. 42).
• The CSJA runs a self-exclusion request form; its page states a six-month suspension. No text sets that period in law and no register is published.
• No gambling advertising code exists. Arrêté 005/2024 has no article on advertising or sponsorship; its promotion rule covers tombolas, notified at least three months ahead with one month for the Ministry to object.
• Loi 22/068 applies to lottery companies, betting operators, other gambling providers and casinos: identify clients and beneficial owners before the relationship, appoint a compliance officer, report suspicions to CENAREF immediately, and keep records for 10 years.
• CENAREF’s casino guideline states a report within 48 hours of the day the suspicion is known.
• No player complaints procedure, ADR scheme or route to the regulator is set in the instruments.

Withdrawal of the approval is the sanction of Arrêté 005/2024 (arts. 44 to 46). Penal texts add penalties for organisers.

• The 1927 Decree punishes organisers, administrators and agents of lotteries with 8 days to 3 months of penal servitude and/or a fine of 50 to 3,000 francs. Ordonnance-loi 11-141 punishes organisers of prognostic contests and intermediaries who transfer funds or distribute their advertisements.
• The 1901 Arrêté punishes playing games of chance in public places. How it applies to online play from home is not addressed.
• The Note circulaire of 15 April 2025 asks the telecom regulator to block illegal operators after a notice of at most one week. As of 27 October 2026 the CSJA register lists no approved operator and says an absence from it should prompt caution.

The online operator route as Arrêté 005/2024 sets it, with the 2026 identification step added. The SONAL contract and the CMS connection come after the approval.

1. 01

   Form a Congolese company

   RCCM; at least 15% Congolese natural persons; not single-member

   Register a commercial company at the Guichet unique with a tax number and social-security affiliation. Keep at least 15% of the capital with Congolese natural persons. A new company needs 5 years’ experience of its partner company or managers.

2. 02

   Assemble the 15-document file

   art. 27; two copies; no application fee

   Prepare the statutes, RCCM and tax papers, three years of financial statements where already operating, managers’ criminal records under three months old, the game rules, a three-year business plan, a bank attestation, the OCC declaration for gaming equipment and the undertaking to join the monitoring platform.

3. 03

   Identify to the CSJA and file with the Minister

   identification form; file addressed to the Minister of Finance

   Complete the CSJA operator identification form and file the application with the Minister of Finance. The texts do not say whether the form replaces the two-copy file, so confirm with the CSJA.

4. 04

   Study and opinion

   opinion within 30 days at most

   The studying unit examines the administrative, financial and technical aspects and may ask for information or open a morality inquiry and a viability inquiry, which suspend the period.

5. 05

   Payment note, payment and approval

   US$50,000 to US$80,000 a year per online segment

   After a favourable opinion, take the payment note, pay the authorisation tax in Congolese francs and receive the Minister’s approval arrêté, which also registers the operator. No period is set for this step.

6. 06

   Sign the SONAL partnership contract

   art. 31; SONAL at least 20% of online gross gaming product

   Conclude the partnership contract with SONAL for the segments named in the approval. Its duration and renewal terms are in the contract.

7. 07

   Approve partners and connect to the CMS

   arts. 33, 36

   Submit the list of technical partners to the Minister for prior approval, have gaming equipment certified by the OCC, and aggregate your system to the Central Monitoring System before technical activity starts.

8. 08

   Operate and renew each year

   annual renewal with tax clearance

   Withhold the 10% winnings tax and pay it by the 15th of each month. Bear the 5% and 5% monitoring charge, report monthly flows, and each year file a tax-clearance certificate, an activity report and an action programme to renew.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 27 Oct 2026.