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

One limb of the eligibility test decides foreign entry before any other question is reached, and it is not a matter of investment law.

• Gaming Act s. 13: an operator must be a limited liability company AND licensed by the Board for a specified game of chance.
• Gaming Act s. 14(1)(g): the applicant must be partly or wholly Ghanaian owned. One hundred per cent foreign ownership is barred. The Act sets no percentage, so any non-zero Ghanaian stake satisfies it.
• Companies Act 2019 (Act 992) s. 171(1): at least two directors, one of them ordinarily resident in Ghana. s. 122(1) requires a registered office and principal place of business in Ghana.
• Registration with the investment authority is mandatory for any enterprise with foreign participation, after incorporation and before operations begin.
• Gambling is not on the list of activities reserved for Ghanaian citizens, and no investment-law capital minimum applies to it.

Laws that apply

• Gaming Act, 2006 (Act 721), as amended by the Ghana Sports Fund Act, 2025 (Act 1159)
• L.I. 2512, Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations, 2025 (the fee schedule)
• Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2023 (Act 1094) and Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 1134)
• Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044) and L.I. 1987 · Companies Act, 2019 (Act 992)

The capital thresholds come from the Board under s. 22. The fees come from a gazetted instrument, L.I. 2512, made on 23 July 2025 by the Minister responsible for finance under the Fees and Charges (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2022: not by the Interior Minister who administers the Gaming Act.

Act 721 s. 14 asks for criminal clearance certificates. The forms an applicant actually completes ask for a great deal more, and the police report is handled at arm length from the applicant.

• Every shareholder holding 5% or more named, with a corporate family tree diagram of holdings, subsidiaries and associates.
• Any conviction ever of the company, any company named in the declaration, or any director, manager or officer, with court, date, offence and penalty; plus civil or criminal action over the preceding five years.
• Personality Notes for each director: previous names and aliases with reasons for change, date and place of birth, hometown, present and previous nationality, a recent photograph, and two character referees who are not relatives or associates.
• A positive vetting report from the Criminal Investigation Department, submitted under the seal of the Director of CID directly to the Commissioner. The applicant is expressly forbidden from submitting it himself.
• Foreign applicants and directors are additionally referred to INTERPOL, the Research Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Financial Intelligence Centre, and the Commission may conduct due diligence beyond Ghana borders.
• Directors are re-vetted annually: Ghana 2024 National Risk Assessment records nominal vetting every year for all directors of betting and gambling establishments.

One operator rate, no stacking, and a player tax that was repealed in 2025 but still appears in live guidance.

Act 721 contains no advertising provision at all. The only gambling-specific advertising rules in Ghana are the Commission Guidelines on Advertisement, and they are detailed and enforced.

• Every advertisement must be vetted and approved by the Commission before it runs: the script or sketch first, then the finished film, video or audio.
• Operators shall not use celebrities. Endorsements must not suggest gambling contributed to success or is a source of regular income, and a character must not be shown to be wealthy.
• Radio and television advertising may not be aired at prime time, nor during programmes rated Family, Parental Guidance 18 or Adult Accompaniment.
• Warnings such as Gamble Responsibly, only 18 years +, and Gambling is addictive, at not less than 30% of the largest font on billboards and flyers, and as crawls running the whole TV or social advertisement.
• No stationary outdoor advertising within 200 metres of preschools, 1st and 2nd cycle schools, children playgrounds or any facility designed for under-18s.
• Sponsorship publicity must be submitted for approval, and no prizes or promotional materials may go to participants in programmes organised for under-18s.
• Promotional gaming needs a permit: a service charge of 8% of total prize value, plus US$1,000 where the budget is GH¢50,000 or above and US$700 below it.

Operators are accountable institutions, supervised by the Gaming Commission itself, and the obligations are real. One number at the centre of them has never been set.

• An operator of a game of chance falls within the First Schedule to the Anti-Money Laundering Act, 2020 (Act 1044). s. 52 designates the Gaming Commission as the supervisory body for the sector.
• s. 35(2): verify the identity of anyone buying or exchanging chips or tokens, keep a chronological register of gaming transactions, and preserve it for five years.
• An AML Reporting Officer is required under s. 50(1)(b) and regulation 5(1) of L.I. 1987.
• Suspicious transaction reports go to the Financial Intelligence Centre through the goAML portal within 24 hours, with no threshold.
• Ghana's 2024 National Risk Assessment describes onboarding with Ghana Card and mobile number verification, with checks at sign-on and again at withdrawal, as current practice; it is not a published rule.

These were looked for and are absent. Several are things a group compliance policy will assume exist, and an operator that relies on the local floor will be operating below its own standards elsewhere.

The Commission publishes its enforcement on its own news pages rather than in a register, and the meaningful sanctions are administrative and personal rather than criminal fines.

There is no application portal and no published processing standard beyond the statutory outer limit. The route below is the one set out in the Act and in the Commission own Requirements for a Gaming Licence.

1. 01

   Incorporate in Ghana with Ghanaian participation

   Companies Act 2019 (Act 992) · Gaming Act s. 13, s. 14(1)(g)

   Form a Ghanaian limited liability company with at least two directors, one ordinarily resident in Ghana, and a registered office and principal place of business in Ghana. The shareholding must be partly or wholly Ghanaian. Register the service mark or logo with the Registrar of Companies, obtain the certificate of incorporation and the certificate to commence business, and register with the investment authority before operations begin.

2. 02

   Put the stated capital in place

   Gaming Act s. 14(1)(c), s. 22, s. 23

   US$2,500,000 for a casino, US$2,000,000 for sports betting, US$1,500,000 for route operations, held as assets and property. Separately agree to maintain the bankroll the Commission determines under s. 23: cash or cash equivalents in proportion to paid-up capital and the level of operations, sufficient to protect patrons against default on gaming debts. If it falls below, you must notify the Commission in writing within 24 hours.

3. 03

   Assemble the application pack

   Requirements for a Gaming Licence 2025

   A business proposal covering registered office and proposed branches, director profiles and their tax clearances, management structure and an online sports betting industry analysis; details of the betting product including approximate odds, frequency of games, prize structure, game rules and a participant code of practice; shareholders agreement; a financial and marketing plan with capital budgets and a five-year projection; details of the game software system and its provider country of origin, certification of software, and an illustration of the gaming interface; and planned corporate social responsibility.

4. 04

   Clear the vetting

   Gaming Act s. 14(1)(d) · Commission AML and Personality Note forms

   Each director completes the Personality Notes form and the AML form, and applies to the Director of the Criminal Investigation Department for a positive vetting report, which CID submits under seal directly to the Commissioner. The Commission introduces applicants to the Bureau of National Investigations and the CID; foreign directors are additionally referred to INTERPOL, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Financial Intelligence Centre. Expect the Commission to conduct further due diligence outside Ghana on foreign nationals.

5. 05

   Apply, and pay the fee on grant

   Gaming Act s. 15, s. 16 · L.I. 2512

   Write officially to the Commission attaching the pack. The Commission has twelve months from receipt to decide, and must give written reasons within seven days of a refusal. The licence fee is payable on grant, and the Board may additionally require the applicant to pay the cost of any investigation necessary for the grant. A refused applicant may petition the Minister, then the courts.

6. 06

   Get the advertising approved before launch

   Guidelines on Advertisement

   Submit the script or sketch of each advertisement to the Commissioner for approval, with an English translation where it is in a local language, then submit the finished recording once the script is approved. Approval lasts as long as the licence and is revocable. Nothing may run before approval, and the stated consequence of non-compliance is on renewal.

7. 07

   Stand up AML before you take a bet

   Act 1044 · L.I. 1987 · Commission and FIC guidelines

   Appoint an AML Reporting Officer, register for goAML reporting to the Financial Intelligence Centre, verify identity (the AML guidelines require the Ghana Card as identifier, and the 2024 National Risk Assessment describes Ghana Card and mobile-number checks at sign-on and at withdrawal as current practice, not as a published rule), and set record retention at five years. Set your own cash reporting threshold and document the reasoning, because none has been prescribed for the sector.

8. 08

   Diarise the calendar-year renewal

   Gaming Act s. 21 · L.I. 2512

   Every licence on the register runs 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 responsibility. Renewal requires updated software certification, notice of any change to shareholders, directors, registered address or key employees during the year, and audited financials. Failing to renew carries a penalty of ten per cent of the renewal fee.

Tier-ordered: official government first, then practitioner, then trade media. Every primary figure was read from the in-force text on 11 Sep 2026.