Operating in Zambia: ad limits and compliance
Zambia licenses bookmakers through the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), but no Act creates an online licence: the bookmaker’s licence is for named premises, and whether the BCLB licenses online bookmakers is not published. Online casino, slots and live casino have no licence class, yet Betway, betPawa and Bolabet sell them beside sport from one site and print a Ministry of Tourism “CL-” number next to their betting licence numbers (operators’ statements); we found no statement by an authority on whether that covers online play. Lotteries need their own authorisation. No tax has been withheld from winnings since 1 January 2026 (Act 17 of 2025).
Product by product
A bookmaker's licence is issued for the premises named in it, no Act creates an online licence class, and whether the BCLB licenses online bookmakers is not published.| Product | Status | Licensed by | Tax | Key restriction | Advertising |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sports betting | Limited | BCLB: bookmaker's licence under the Betting Control Act (ss. 4-5); no licence register is published | 5% Betting Levy on deposits and withdrawals (from 1 January 2026); 10% excise on stakes still in the Customs and Excise Act, not repealed though the Minister told Parliament the levy replaces it; ZRA is the body to ask whether it assesses it; no tax withheld from winnings since 1 January 2026; VAT exempt | The licence is for named premises or a race meeting; no online licence class or conditions are published, and the 2025 tax Acts recognise online betting as taxed betting | No gambling-advertising statute; touting for a bookmaker outside licensed premises is an offence (Betting Control Act s. 15); the IBA code bans product placement of gambling in TV programmes |
| Online casino and live casino | Unregulated | None for online: the casino licence under the Tourism and Hospitality Act 2007 covers premises kept for gaming (land-based) | The 2025 tax Acts name online casino live games and online casino machine games within 'betting', which the Betting Levy and the excise use | No remote casino licence class. How operators sell it: on the same site as sport, by companies that print a Ministry of Tourism 'CL-' licence number beside numbers they attribute to the Ministry of Finance, the BCLB or (betPawa) 'the Lottery and Betting Control Board of Zambia' (Betway CL-000007/9-2023, betPawa CL-001083/2-2026, Bolabet CL-001117/6-2026; operators' statements, not matched to any register). We found no statement from the BCLB, the Ministry of Tourism, the Zambia Revenue Authority or a court on online casino licensing. | No gambling-advertising statute; general misleading-representation rule applies |
| Slots | Limited | Casino licence only; keeping a gaming machine without one is an offence (Gaming Machines (Prohibition) Act s. 3(1)) | Online slots ('online casino machine games') are named only in tax law | Machines must be within the number the casino licence authorises (land-based). How operators sell it: Betway's casino lobby lists 'Slot Games 2,500+ games' and 'Crash Games 70+ games'; betPawa, Bolabet, Castlebet and GSB sell crash games such as Aviator beside sport, under the licence numbers they print (operators' statements). We found no statement by an authority on online slots. | As for Online casino and live casino |
| Poker | Unregulated | None: card games are those specified in a casino licence, which covers premises | — | No online poker licence class; a game whose chances are not alike favourable to all players is unlawful gaming in a gaming house (Penal Code s. 174(2)); operators sell poker only as a casino game (Betway: video poker among its casino games and live poker in its live casino; operator's own statement, 22 October 2026) | As for Online casino and live casino |
| Lottery | Limited | Lotteries Control Board, or the Police Division commander for tickets of K600 or less; the State Lottery is run by the State Lotteries Board | No tax withheld from winnings since 1 January 2026; online lottery is named only in tax law | Private lotteries only for social purposes, with at least a quarter of gross proceeds to the cause; an unauthorised lottery and its advertising are offences | Advertising an unauthorised lottery is an offence of up to 1,500 penalty units (K600) |
| Games and platform supply (B2B) | Unregulated | None: no Act creates a supplier, platform or game-provider licence class | The 5% Betting Levy is paid by the betting company, a person licensed to provide betting services | Suppliers are reached through the operator: the operator's records system must be capable of integration with ZRA systems (Betting Levy Act s. 7(3)) | — |
Which tax applies to an online betting company: the 5% Betting Levy or the 10% excise on stakes?
The Betting Levy Act 2025 took effect on 1 January 2026: 5% on every deposit to and withdrawal from a customer gaming account, charged and paid by the betting company to ZRA, with the return and payment due within ten days after the end of each month. A late return carries 300,000 penalty units for each month or part of a month (K120,000), which the Commissioner-General may waive. The 10% excise on betting services from Act 11 of 2025 still stands in the Customs and Excise Act, because the Levy Act repeals nothing, and ZRA's tariff updated in January 2026 still prints it. The Minister of Finance told Parliament on 3 December 2025 that the levy replaces it and that it "will be abolished", but no Act has done so. ZRA's levy and excise leaflets do not mention it, so whether ZRA assesses it is not confirmed.
Betting Levy Act, 2025 ↗ZRA: Betting Levy leaflet ↗ZRA: Customs and Excise Tariff ↗
Regulator and player protection in Zambia
Getting licensed: apply to the BCLB
Gambling tax: 5% levy on deposits and withdrawals
As of 22 October 2026 three national charges reach an online betting company. (1) The Betting Levy: 5% of every deposit to and every withdrawal from a customer gaming account, charged and paid by the betting company to ZRA from 1 January 2026, with the return and payment due within ten days after each month (Betting Levy Act 2025 s. 5); brick-and-mortar betting companies are exempt.
(2) Excise duty on betting services: 10% of the amount staked (Customs and Excise Act s. 76B and Eighth Schedule, inserted by Act 11 of 2025). No Act repealed it and ZRA’s January 2026 tariff still prints it; the Minister of Finance told Parliament on 3 December 2025 that the levy replaces the tax regime on online betting and that the excise “will be abolished”;
ZRA’s Excise Directorate is the body to ask whether it assesses it beside the levy. (3) Income tax at 30% on business profits, and a minimum alternative tax of up to 1% of turnover credited against income tax (s. 14A; the charge year from which it is assessed can be confirmed with ZRA).
From 1 January 2026 the presumptive tax on betting and gaming lists only land-based products: 15% of gross takings for betting, K5,000 a month per casino table and K500 per gaming machine. Betting and gaming supplies are exempt from VAT.
Tax withheld from winnings (15%) ended on 1 January 2026, when Act 17 of 2025 s. 12 deleted Income Tax Act s. 82A(1)(g); winnings paid from that date carry no withholding.
Which foreign licences Zambia accepts
Zambia recognises none of these 8 foreign licences.
Not recognisedMalta (MGA) · United Kingdom (UKGC) · Curaçao (CGB) · Alderney (AGCC) · Kahnawake (KGCB) · Anjouan · Isle of Man (GSC) · Gibraltar (GRA)
Not recognised: the Betting Control Act requires a licence issued under it (s. 5(1)) and no provision recognises a foreign licence; carrying on bookmaking without a licence is an offence (s. 5(3)). Neither the gambling Acts nor the 2025 cyber Acts give a power to block gambling websites (as of 22 October 2026). Betway, betPawa and Bolabet print licence numbers they attribute to Zambian authorities, not a foreign licence (operators’ statements).
Bonus rules: welcome bonuses allowed
No Zambian law addresses bonuses, free bets or their advertising. General consumer law applies: a false or misleading representation, including one about a condition attached to an offer, is prohibited.
- Welcome bonus
- Allowed
- VIP schemes
- Allowed
- Loyalty schemes
- Allowed
- Cashback
- Allowed
No law caps wagering requirements or sets how bonus terms must be shown.
- Penalties
A false or misleading representation: up to 150,000 penalty units (K60,000) for a person and up to 10% of annual turnover for an enterprise, with a refund order (Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2010 s. 47).
The BCLB may vary, suspend or cancel a bookmaker’s licence for good cause (Betting Control Act s. 11).
Free bets count as bets for the 10% excise (Customs and Excise Act, Seventh Schedule para 3(2)). Touting for a bookmaker outside licensed premises or an authorised race meeting is an offence (Betting Control Act s. 15).
Advertising: limited
Zambia has no gambling-advertising statute and no regulator of gambling advertising. The gambling Acts make it an offence to advertise an unauthorised lottery or pool, or to tout for a bookmaker outside licensed premises or an authorised race meeting (Betting Control Act s. 15). The Independent Broadcasting Authority’s Standard Operating Procedures ban product placement of gambling in programmes, and false or misleading advertising falls under the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2010. No responsible-gambling message is required. The platform rows reflect each platform’s own policy.
| Channel | Status | Vertical & Platform Split (2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Ads | Banned | Google's gambling and games policy only permits gambling ads in an enumerated list of certified countries, and Zambia does not appear on that allowlist. Because certification is unavailable for Zambia, Zambian-licensed sportsbook and casino operators cannot run certified paid Search ads targeting the country. Google's March 2026 policy update did not add Zambia.45 |
| App Store Publishing | Restricted | Apple App Store Review Guideline 5.3 requires real-money gaming/gambling apps to hold the necessary licensing and permits for each territory where offered and to be geo-restricted to those territories. A Zambian sportsbook or casino app can be published only if the developer proves a valid BCLB licence and limits distribution accordingly; without that it is rejected. Nothing in Zambian law prohibits the app itself, so this is a platform gating requirement rather than a national ban.6 |
| Google/Apple App Store Ads | Banned | Google Play only allows real-money gambling apps in the countries on its explicit allowlist (in Africa: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria in select states, Tanzania) and Zambia is not among them, so gambling apps and their promotion cannot be distributed to Zambia via Play. Apple Search Ads for gambling apps likewise depend on the app being an approved, correctly geo-licensed real-money title. In both stores the effect is that store-level gambling app advertising to Zambia is not available.78 |
| Meta (FB/IG) | Banned | Meta requires prior written permission to run online gambling and gaming ads and only grants it for jurisdictions on its supported-markets list; Zambia is not an enumerated permitted market, so advertisers cannot obtain authorization to target the country. Zambian-licensed operators therefore cannot run compliant Facebook or Instagram gambling ads even with a valid domestic licence. This is a platform restriction, not a Zambian legal prohibition.9 |
| TV & Radio | Restricted | No published rule bans gambling advertising on television or radio. The Independent Broadcasting Authority’s Standard Operating Procedures, which bind broadcasters, ban product placement of gambling in programmes (rule 9.2.2.8(b)), bar sponsorship of a programme by anyone prohibited from television advertising (rule 9.2.5.1), and refer to a list of products not allowed to be advertised that they do not print; whether gambling is on it can be confirmed with the IBA. No watershed or responsible-gambling message is set for gambling advertising.10 |
| Sponsorships | Allowed | No law bans or licenses gambling sponsorship of sport. On air, sponsorship credits must carry no advertising message or call to action (IBA Standard Operating Procedures rule 9.2.7.4(a)), and a sponsor prohibited from television advertising may not sponsor a programme (rule 9.2.5.1).10 |
| Digital OOH | Allowed | No gambling-specific rule on billboards or other outdoor media appears in the statutes. Outdoor advertising is controlled through local-authority by-laws and road-reserve permits, which we did not find published; the local council (for example Lusaka City Council) and the Road Development Agency are the bodies to ask whether a betting billboard needs a permit.3 |
Channel rules for Zambia 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.
How Zambia enforces against unlicensed operators
No regulator publishes enforcement: as of 22 October 2026 we found no BCLB website, register or licence conditions, and no fine, suspension or blocking order. The BCLB cannot fine; it may vary, suspend or cancel a bookmaker’s licence for good cause (Betting Control Act s. 11). Money penalties come from the courts, ZRA and the Financial Intelligence Centre.
- Carrying on bookmaking without a licence: a fine of up to 100 penalty units on a first conviction and up to 5,000 on a later one (Betting Control Act s. 5(3)).
- A late Betting Levy return or remittance: 300,000 penalty units (K120,000) for each month or part of a month (Betting Levy Act s. 5(5)).
- The FIC or a supervisory authority may impose a financial penalty of up to one million penalty units (K400,000) (FIC Act s. 49C).
- No power to block gambling websites is given by the gambling Acts, the Cyber Crimes Act 2025, the Cyber Security Act 2025 or the ICT Act 2009.
Traps operators hit in Zambia
Specific operational risks that have caught new entrants in this market. Each item is country-specific. Generic gambling-ops issues (KYC, RG tools) are not included unless they have a local twist.
No online licence class
No Act creates an online licence class: the bookmaker’s licence is for “the premises named therein” or an authorised race meeting (Betting Control Act s. 5(1)), and whether the BCLB licenses online bookmakers, and on what conditions, is not published. Get the BCLB’s position in writing before building for the market.
Two betting taxes in the texts
The 5% Betting Levy on every deposit and withdrawal applies from 1 January 2026, and the 10% excise on stakes inserted by Act 11 of 2025 is still in the Customs and Excise Act; no Act repealed it, though the Minister of Finance told Parliament on 3 December 2025 that the levy replaces it. ZRA’s levy leaflet does not mention the excise; ZRA’s Excise Directorate is the body to ask whether it is assessed.
Records that integrate with ZRA
A betting company must keep electronic records of every deposit and withdrawal (account number, date and time, amount, levy) on a system capable of integration with ZRA’s systems, and keep records of its operations for six years; failing to keep them carries 300,000 penalty units (K120,000) (Betting Levy Act s. 7).
Sources11
Licences split by product
Casinos are licensed by a different body (the Licensing Committee, Tourism and Hospitality Act 2007 Part VI; land-based), lotteries by the Lotteries Control Board, and keeping a gaming machine outside a licensed casino is an offence (Gaming Machines (Prohibition) Act s. 3). The Betting Control Act does not say whether casino-style or virtual games fall under a bookmaker’s licence; the BCLB is the body to ask.
AML: a compliance officer approved by the FIC
Gambling operators are reporting entities under the FIC Act: customer due diligence before an account opens, suspicious transaction reports within three working days, cash reports at USD 10,000, ten-year records, and a compliance officer at senior management level, certified and approved by the Centre (s. 23).
Timeline: rules in force
- January 2026
Betting Levy
The 5% levy on deposits and withdrawals of a betting company takes effect, administered by ZRA.
Source: 11
- August 2025
Online products defined as betting
Act 11 of 2025 brings online casino, online lottery and online betting into the definition of betting and charges a 10% excise on betting services.
Source: 2
- January 2025
15% tax on winnings (ended 1 January 2026)
Act 22 of 2024 set the tax withheld from winnings at a flat 15% for 2025; Act 17 of 2025 s. 12 ended it from 1 January 2026.
Source: 21
- January 2022
New licence fees and a one-year licence
Act 50 of 2021: 500,000 fee units on first issue, 250,000 on renewal, one-year validity.
Source: 14
- December 2020
Gambling operators under the AML law
The Financial Intelligence Centre (Amendment) Act 2020 makes a casino, gaming or gambling operator a designated non-financial business, so a reporting entity.
Source: 12
- 2007
Casino licensing moves to the tourism law
Part VI of the Tourism and Hospitality Act 2007 licenses casinos (land-based) and repealed the Casino Act 1992; the 2015 Act keeps Part VI in force until a casino law is enacted.
Source: 17
- 1957
Betting Control Act
The Betting Control Act, Cap. 166 (Act 27 of 1957, in force 17 January 1958) sets up the BCLB and the bookmaker’s licence.
Source: 3
Operator myths vs reality in Zambia
Common assumptions about gambling licensing that turn out to be wrong in practice.
- MythOne BCLB licence covers every gambling product.
- MythThe Betting Levy replaced the 10% excise on stakes.Reality
No Act says so, though the Minister of Finance told Parliament on 3 December 2025 that it would. The Betting Levy Act repeals nothing, and the 10% excise on betting services is still in the Customs and Excise Act and in ZRA’s January 2026 tariff; ZRA is the body to ask whether it is assessed.
- MythA licence from another country is enough to serve Zambian players.Reality
The Betting Control Act requires a licence issued under it (s. 5(1)) and makes it non-transferable (s. 24); no provision recognises a foreign licence, and carrying on bookmaking without a licence is an offence (s. 5(3)).
Sources3
Markets that work like Zambia
Compared on what our records hold for each country: whether online casino, betting, poker and lottery are licensed, state-run or banned, the licensing model, what the operator tax is levied on and its band, how most advertising channels are treated, and how foreign licences are treated. A point we hold for only one of the two countries counts for nothing.
- IrelandReviewedMozambiqueResearchedZimbabweAI overview
Online casino and poker unregulated; betting licensed; licensed market.
- Western SaharaAI overview
Online casino and poker unregulated; lottery limited; licensed market; most ad channels banned.
- São Tomé and PríncipeAI overview
Online casino and poker unregulated; licensed market; most ad channels banned.
Methodology & sources
The research behind our Zambia coverage
Counted across every Zambia page, not this page alone.
compiled 26 Oct 2026
Across every Zambia page on this site: players, operators and the licence guide. The research report behind them cites official sources: the law, the regulator, the gazette, the courts and each platform’s own published advertising policy. Page sections not yet rewritten from the report may cite other sources.
The same research as a 75-page Zambia report: every one of the 201 checklist questions, each answer cited to the instrument behind it.
Request the Zambia reportOur Deep AI Scan took Zambia through all 201 questions of our regulatory checklist, from 69 official documents, read on 26 Oct 2026. Our research team then traced every figure on this page to the document and sentence that states it. The full research report is due to go to our compliance team. Where a fact rests on a press report or a law-firm summary rather than an official document, the page says so.
Documents cited on this page
- 1Competition and Consumer Protection Act, 2010 (Act No. 24 of 2010), Laws.Africa consolidation incl. Act 21 of 2023
- 2Customs and Excise (Amendment) Act, 2025 (Act 11 of 2025)
- 3Betting Control Act, Cap. 166 (Act 27 of 1957) with the Betting Control Regulations and Forms 1-4 (Laws of Zambia print)
- 4Google Ads gambling and games policy
- 5Google gambling policy update (Mar 2026)
- 6Apple App Review Guideline 5.3
- 7Google Play real-money gambling policy
- 8Google Play gambling country allowances
- 9Meta online gambling and games ad policy
- 10Independent Broadcasting Authority: Standard Operating Procedures for Broadcasting in Zambia (SOP)
- 11Betting Levy Act, 2025 (Act 27 of 2025) (Parliament page title: 'The Betting Act, 2025')
- 12Financial Intelligence Centre (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 16 of 2020)
- 13Cyber Crimes Act, 2025 (Act 4 of 2025)
- 14Betting Control (Amendment) Act, 2021 (Act 50 of 2021)
- 15ZRA, Customs and Excise Tariff (Customs Tariff Book), "Last updated in January 2026"
- 16National Assembly of Zambia, Daily Parliamentary Debates, Wednesday 3 December 2025 (Betting Levy Bill, 2025, second reading)
- 17Tourism and Hospitality Act, 2007 (Act 23 of 2007), Part VI 'Licensing of Casinos' ss. 47-58 (republisher copy of the Government Printer scan)
- 18Lotteries Act, Cap. 163 (Act 8 of 1957) with the Lotteries (Procedure and Fees) Regulations (Laws of Zambia print)
- 19Gaming Machines (Prohibition) Act, Cap. 92 (Act 2 of 1974)
- 20FIC Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism and Proliferation Guidelines for the Casino, Gaming or Gambling Sector (v2.0, 18 Aug 2023)
- 21Income Tax (Amendment) Act, 2024 (Act 22 of 2024)
- 22State Lotteries Act, Cap. 328 (Act 7 of 1970)
- 23Pools Act, Cap. 165 (Act 33 of 1959)
Other documents this page relies on
- Data Protection Act, 2021 (Act 3 of 2021; assent 23 March 2021)Law
- Fees and Fines (Fee and Penalty Unit Value) (Amendment) Regulations, 2024 (S.I. 25 of 2024)Law
Also cited on this page
- Betway Zambia (Emerald Bay Limited), terms and conditions (operator's own statement)
- betPawa Zambia (Betbio Zambia Limited), home page (operator's own statement)
- Bolabet Zambia (Bolabet Company Limited), home page (operator's own statement)
- Income Tax (Amendment) (No. 2) Act, 2025 (Act 17 of 2025)
69 documents in all. Request the full research report for every source, answer by answer.