Is online gambling legal in Ethiopia?

1. 1ELS official Telegram channel, posts 2442-2443, 4 Dec 2025: press statement on the suspension of 22 sports-betting operators
2. 21xbet.com
3. 3Council of Ministers Regulation No. 160/2009 (160/2001 EC), National Lottery Administration Re-establishment, Negarit Gazeta 15th Year No. 21, 4 Feb 2009
4. 4Ethiopian Lottery Service digital platform: Terms of Use (ethiolottery.et)
5. 5Conventional Bingo Game Licensing and Control Directive No. 126/2013 (Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority, 8 Feb 2010)

You must be 21 to gamble online in Ethiopia. 21 for sports betting (Directive 856/2014 arts 10, 16(1)); 18 for conventional bingo halls. No instrument sets an age for the state lottery; its online platform states 18+.

The payer withholds 20% of gross winnings of ETB 1,000 or more from games of chance held in Ethiopia (Proclamation 979/2016 as amended by Proclamation 1395/2025, for income from 8 July 2025; 15% before). Losses are not deducted, and smaller wins are outside the tax.

No operator holds an active online licence in Ethiopia as of 30 Oct 2026.

No national licence for online gambling exists here, so a site taking deposits from players in Ethiopia is not licensed locally, whatever licence it shows from elsewhere.

Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS), formerly the National Lottery Administration's website

Prominent operators in Ethiopia

• ✓
  No site holds an Ethiopian online licence

  The law has no online licence, so a site claiming an Ethiopian online licence is wrong.

• ✓
  No self-exclusion or limits in law

  The law sets no self-exclusion register, deposit limits or helpline. EthioLottery offers its own deposit limits and self-exclusion on its platform.

• ✓
  Crypto trading in Birr is prohibited

  The National Bank of Ethiopia says Birr-denominated peer-to-peer crypto trading is prohibited until a framework exists (27 February 2026).

What you can expect from a licensed site's offers in Ethiopia. The rules operators must follow are on the operator page.

We have no record of a national self-exclusion scheme or problem-gambling helpline in Ethiopia. The law does not require licensed sites to offer deposit limits. Reality checks (reminders of how long you have played) are not required.

1. 1

   1. Complain to the operator

   No complaints procedure is prescribed by law. A licensed shop must pay a winner within 15 days, and a 'system error' is no excuse for not paying.

2. 2

   2. Report an illegal game to the ELS

   The gambling law gives players no complaint channel to the regulator, but the ELS asks the public to report illegal games. An offshore site has no Ethiopian licence, so no Ethiopian body can settle a dispute with it.

• Myth

  My winnings are taxed at 20% to 25%.
  Reality

  The rate is 20% of gross winnings of ETB 1,000 or more, for income from 8 July 2025; the 25% in the same proclamation is an unrelated employment-income band.

• Myth

  Some betting sites hold an Ethiopian online licence.
  Reality

  Ethiopian law has no online licence; sports betting is licensable only at recognised branches.

• Myth

  Using a foreign betting site is a crime for the player.
  Reality

  No penalty on a player appears in the gambling law; the penalties fall on whoever runs unlicensed lottery activity.