Operating in Ghana: 20% tax, ad limits

• Operator tax: 20%. Of gross gaming revenue, from 1 July 2024; it replaces corporate income tax on that income ↗

Ghana permits a wide range of bonuses and promotions, which are regulated by the Gaming Commission of Ghana. All advertisements require prior approval and must adhere to guidelines focused on responsible gaming and preventing misleading claims of 'assured wins'.

Sources12

Channel rules for Ghana reflect each platform's published policy and the sources numbered in each row (listed under Methodology & sources). Verify with the local regulator and your ad-platform account manager before launching.

• March 2025

  Licensed Betting Operators

  RGAnnounced crackdown and potential penalties

  Operating in violation of zoning regulations prohibiting gambling facilities near schools and religious institutions.

  Read-across: Operators must review their retail locations to ensure compliance with zoning laws, as regulators are increasing enforcement to protect minors and vulnerable communities.

  Source
• 2025

  Ten illegal online sports betting operators

  Grey-MarketPayment platforms blocked

  Operating online sports betting without a Gaming Commission licence. Ghana has no ISP or network-blocking power, so the Commission blocked the operators' payment platforms instead.

  Read-across: Payment blocking is the only measure that reaches an offshore operator, and no published instrument authorises it.

  Source
• January 2022

  Unnamed Land-Based Operators

  LicensingAnalogue machines declared obsolete; nationwide seizure and destruction operation announced from January 2022

  Failure to migrate from obsolete analogue gaming machines to digital ones by the 31st December 2021 deadline.

  Read-across: This enforcement of a technical standard requires all operators to invest in modern, compliant equipment and demonstrates the Commission's willingness to take significant material action.

  Source
• April 2019

  SafariBet (African Gaming and Entertainment)

  LicensingLicence revoked

  The Commission revoked the licence by public notice on 12 April 2019 and warned the public not to bet with Safaribet on its platform or at its shops and branches. The notice gives no reason.

  Read-across: The notice states no reason for the revocation, so it cannot be read as a ruling on any particular breach.

  Source

As of 24 Sep 2026, 69 companies · 86 licences are on the register in Ghana. Size your entry against this base before committing capital. Check them yourself on the official Gaming Commission of Ghana register, which lists each licensee and its authorised domains.

Notable licensed operators

• SportyBet

• Betway

• Soccabet

• MSport

• Assuming a wholly foreign-owned company can hold the licence

  Gaming Act s. 14(1)(g) requires the applicant to be partly or wholly Ghanaian owned. The Act sets no percentage, so any non-zero Ghanaian stake satisfies it, but zero does not. Note that the constraint is gaming law, not investment law: the Ghana Investment Promotion Authority Act 2026 removed the blanket foreign-capital minimums, and gambling is not on its reserved list.

  Sources2

• Budgeting for the licence fee and not the capital

  Minimum stated capital of US$1.5m to US$2.5m in assets and property must be in place at application, and the Commission may also require the applicant to pay the cost of any investigation necessary for the grant. The licence fee is two per cent of that capital for land-based categories.

  Sources13214

• Underestimating what the director vetting asks for

  Every shareholder holding five per cent or more must be named, with a corporate family-tree diagram of holdings, subsidiaries and associates. Directors disclose previous names and aliases, present and previous nationality, and two character referees who are not relatives or associates, and must obtain a positive vetting report from the Criminal Investigation Department submitted under the seal of the Director of CID directly to the Commission. Foreign directors are additionally referred to INTERPOL, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Financial Intelligence Centre.

  Sources13

• Running advertising without prior approval

  Every advertisement must be vetted and approved by the Commission before it runs: the script or sketch first, then the finished recording. Celebrities are prohibited outright, radio and television advertising may not run at prime time, warnings must be at least thirty per cent of the largest font on billboards and flyers, and no stationary outdoor advertising may sit within 200 metres of a school or children’s playground. The stated sanction is that non-compliance may affect licence renewal.

  Sources15

• Treating the twelve-month decision period as a target

  Gaming Act s. 16(1) gives the Commission twelve months from receipt of the application to decide. It is the statutory outer limit and the Commission cites it in its own FAQ, so entry planning should assume it rather than a commercial timeline.

  Sources2

• Building payments without mobile money

  Mobile money is the rail. The Bank of Ghana reports GH¢4.54 trillion of mobile money value in 2025, up 50.8 per cent, across 26.7 million active accounts, and Ghana’s own risk assessment records the sector moving off cash onto digital wallets even in land-based betting shops.

  Sources1617

• Assuming an annual licence rolls over quietly

  Every licence on the register runs from 1 January to 31 December, so the whole market renews at once. The Commission writes two months before expiry but states that renewal remains the operator’s responsibility, and failing to renew carries an administrative penalty of ten per cent of the renewal fee.

  Sources181314

• Myth

  A foreign licence (MGA, Curaçao) is enough to reach Ghanaian players.
  Reality

  No. Gaming Act 2006 (Act 721) s. 13 requires a licence from the Gaming Commission, and s. 14(1)(g) requires the applicant to be partly or wholly Ghanaian owned, so a foreign licence cannot substitute and a wholly foreign company cannot hold the Ghanaian one. Enforcement reaches unlicensed operators through PAYMENTS, not the network: the Commission blocked the payment platforms of ten illegal online sports betting operators in 2025. Ghana has no ISP or network blocking power.

  Sources228

• Myth

  The licence fee is the main cost of entry.
  Reality

  It is not. Before the licence fee there is minimum stated capital of US$2.5m for a casino, US$2m for sports betting and US$1.5m for route operations, and after it comes 20 per cent of gross gaming revenue plus an annual operational fee of up to US$50,000.

  Sources131422

• Myth

  The Gaming Commission does not publish its fees.
  Reality

  It does, and they are gazetted. The schedule is L.I. 2512, made on 23 July 2025, listing every charge from the licence fee to branch fees, key-employee registration and administrative penalties. The Commission reproduces it without the instrument number, which is why it is often described as unpublished.

  Sources1413

• Myth

  Player winnings are still taxed, which suppresses the market.
  Reality

  Out of date. The 10 per cent withholding tax on winnings was repealed by the Income Tax (Amendment) Act 2025 (Act 1134), assented and gazetted on 2 April 2025. Note that the GRA practice note on gaming still describes the old tax and has not been reissued, and that secondary sources citing "Act 1129" for the repeal have the number wrong.

  Sources2129

• Myth

  There are detailed gaming regulations to comply with.
  Reality

  There are not. No Legislative Instrument has ever been made under Act 721 in twenty years, although s. 71 provides for them and one was reported as submitted for approval in 2025. What exists instead is regulator guidance, advertising guidelines, AML/CFT guidelines, enforced through licence renewal rather than as law.

  Sources22815

1. PortugalIn review
   SpainReviewed
   LithuaniaChecked
   SwedenChecked

   Online casino and betting licensed; licensed market; GGR tax 20–30%; most ad channels restricted.

2. KenyaReviewed

   Online casino and betting licensed; lottery limited; licensed market; tax on GGR; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly not recognised.