Operating in Mozambique: ad limits and compliance

Bonuses and promotions are generally permitted for licensed verticals in Mozambique, such as sports betting. However, advertising is subject to significant restrictions, with a specific prohibition on advertising for online casinos, which currently lack a defined licensing path. Bonus terms lack specific, publicly available rules, and there have been no recent public enforcement actions against operators.

Sources23

Channel rules for Mozambique 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.

• July 2024

  Unlicensed Operators

  Grey-Market120 illegal gambling machines seized

  Operating without a license and in prohibited locations such as near schools, in markets, and bars.

  Read-across: Indicates a continued focus by authorities on eradicating unlicensed street-level gambling operations, posing a risk for any unregulated activity.

  Source
• January 2024

  Unlicensed Operators

  Grey-Market40 illegal gambling machines incinerated

  Illegal operation of Chinese-made gambling machines and attracting minors to gambling activities.

  Read-across: Demonstrates a zero-tolerance policy towards the reintroduction of seized illegal gambling machines into the market.

  Source
• August 2023

  Unlicensed Operators

  Grey-MarketOver 64 illegal gambling machines seized

  Operating prohibited machines associated with criminality, alcohol and drug consumption, and physical violence, with minors being the main users.

  Read-across: Shows a focus on the social ills associated with illegal gambling, suggesting a potential for stricter enforcement on social responsibility grounds.

  Source
• June 2023

  Unlicensed Operators

  Grey-MarketNearly 100 illegal gambling machines incinerated

  Operating illegally in commercial establishments and leisure venues across various districts.

  Read-across: Reinforces the government's aim of discouraging illegal gambling to protect the public, especially students.

  Source
• May 2023

  Unlicensed Operators

  Grey-Market103 illegal gambling machines seized

  Illegal proliferation of gambling machines in suburban areas, attracting minors and operating without licenses.

  Read-across: Highlights the authorities' intent to curb the grey market, particularly operations that are accessible to vulnerable populations.

  Source

Gross gaming revenue in Mozambique is approximately 3.5 billion MZN annually. The most popular form of gambling is Sports betting + instant games (Aviator / crash). Online gambling represents 55% of total GGR. A culturally distinctive product in this market is Aviator and other "crash" instant games: offered by sports-betting licensees (Premier Bet, Elephant Bet, Betway, Olabet) and now dominant on mobile, often >60% of daily active users due to low data use and full mobile-money compatibility..

GGR figures1213

As of 19 Oct 2026, approximately 8 operators hold an active licence in Mozambique. Size your entry against this base before committing capital. Check them yourself on the official IGJ register, which lists each licensee and its authorised domains.

Notable licensed operators

• Premier Bet

• 888Africa

• Betway

• Elephant Bet

• Olabet

• Operating Online Casino in a Legal Grey Area

  The 2010 Gambling Law legalised online gambling in principle, but no specific licensing process exists for online casino or poker. Operators offering these products do so without a specific Mozambican license for that vertical, so they carry significant legal and reputational risk.

  Sources314

• Miscalculating the Tiered Tax Obligations

  Taxation is not a single flat rate. It varies by vertical (10% GGR online sports, 8% retail) and, for land-based casinos, by concession length (20%-35% GGR). Operators must also account for a 32% corporate income tax and a 50% stamp duty on casino admission tickets.

  Sources315

• Underestimating the Dominance of Mobile Money

  Traditional payment methods like credit cards are secondary. Failure to integrate dominant local mobile money services like M-Pesa, e-Mola, and mKesh will severely limit market penetration and player acquisition.

  Sources16

• Missing the Aviator / Crash Game Market

  Instant / crash games (Aviator, Skyward) are now the #1 online product in Mozambique by daily active users and total volume, often >60% of operator DAU on sports-betting licensees. Operators arriving with a sports-only offering and no "Instant Games" tab will materially underperform local competitors (Elephant Bet, Premier Bet, Olabet) which have already wrapped these titles into their digital suites under their existing IGJ sports-betting licence.

  Sources1718

• VAT-on-Digital-Services Trap (Jan 2026)

  Non-resident operators that miss the January-2026 VAT-on-digital-services registration face withholding-at-source on their payment processing, on top of the standard 10% GGR tax. Monthly VAT declarations are now mandatory. Q1-2026 entrants have reported this as the single biggest margin compression they hit on launch.

  Sources1920

• Underestimating the AML / KYC Audit Shift

  Since the IGJ's July-2024 virtual AML / CFT training initiative, compliance is no longer just about responsible-gambling tooling: the IGJ now actively audits KYC files and payment trails. Mozambique is working to stay off the FATF "Grey List", so expect intrusive document requests on source-of-funds and transaction-monitoring evidence.

  Sources2122

• European-Football Sponsorships Are the Brand-Trust Play

  Premier Bet still leads the market, but 888Africa and Betway are closing the gap fast, explicitly through high-profile European football partnerships (888Africa with SL Benfica targeted at the Mozambique market is the headline 2025-26 deal). Local brand trust in Mozambique tracks European-club affiliation more than domestic team sponsorship. New entrants without a European football tie-in lose ground on first-time deposit and brand-recall.

  Sources1718

• Myth

  A single licence from the IGJ covers all online gambling products.
  Reality

  This is not true. The current licensing framework established by the IGJ only provides a specific path for online sports betting. There is no local licensing mechanism for online casino or poker, despite the 2010 law legalizing them in principle.

  Sources314

• Myth

  A foreign licence (e.g., MGA, Curaçao) is recognized for legal operation in Mozambique.
  Reality

  Mozambique does not formally recognize any foreign gambling licences. While authorities do not actively block offshore sites, legal operation requires establishing a local Mozambican entity and obtaining a local license for the permitted verticals.

  Sources2526

• Myth

  Crypto is either flatly banned or freely usable for gambling here.
  Reality

  Neither. There is no gambling-specific crypto prohibition, but there is no gambling-specific permission either: what governs is the virtual-asset regime. Lei n.º 14/2023 confines virtual-asset activity to entities registered with the Banco de Moçambique, and Aviso n.º 4/GBM/2023 of 14 September 2023 set up that VASP registration framework. Then Lei n.º 15/2026 of 2 July 2026, in force from August 2026, replaced the 2008 payment-system regime: the Banco de Moçambique is now the National Payment System authority, licensing and supervising every component, and it expressly recognises distributed-ledger technology. Account opening, maintenance and settlement over DLT are permitted but require PRIOR authorisation from the central bank. So a crypto-funded cashier is a central-bank licensing question before it is a gaming question, and the gate moved this month. Do not treat a VASP registration alone as sufficient, and confirm the position with the Banco de Moçambique and the gaming inspectorate before building crypto rails.

  Sources2728

• Myth

  You can run an offshore-only site targeting Mozambique without any local presence as long as you don't advertise locally.
  Reality

  ISP blocking is currently light (~3/10), but the 2025 Telecom Traffic Control Decree (48/2025) gives the government tools to monitor and throttle financial flows to unlicensed digital services. Combined with the January-2026 VAT-on-digital-services expansion and the IGJ's AML / CFT crackdown, operating without a local VASP registration or partner is becoming high-risk: payment-processor withholding alone can wipe out margin.

  Sources1922

1. IrelandReviewed
   ZimbabweAI overview

   Online casino and poker unregulated; betting and lottery licensed; licensed market; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly tolerated.

2. EswatiniAI overview
   GambiaAI overview

   Online casino and poker unregulated; lottery licensed; licensed market; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly tolerated.

3. BurundiAI overview

   Betting and lottery licensed; poker unregulated; licensed market; most ad channels restricted; foreign licences mostly tolerated.