Legal casino gambling age in Mali
Mali has no general licensing system for gambling. Lawful games of chance are organised through the Société du Pari Mutuel Urbain du Mali (PMU-Mali), a mixed-economy company in which the state holds 75% of the capital and which a 2012 decree attached to the ministry responsible for the economy and finance. Its legal basis is Law No. 03-025 of 21 July 2003, which authorises betting on horse races and a defined list of games of chance. Sports betting, including online sports betting and online casino-style games, has been offered through commercial partnerships concluded by PMU-Mali rather than through licences issued by an independent regulator. No such regulator exists. A state audit has questioned whether the 2003 framework is adequate for online gaming. In July 2026 the main betting brands suspended or curtailed their services in a dispute linked to a new tax on winnings introduced by the 2026 finance law.
Key points
- Law No. 03-025 of 21 July 2003 provides that only PMU-Mali may organise bets on horse races outside racecourses. The law also covers the classic lottery, lotto, sports lotto, bingo, keno and certain other games, according to a report of the Bureau du Vérificateur Général.
- PMU-Mali, created in 1994, is a mixed-economy company: the state holds 75% of its capital and private shareholders hold 25%.
- Mali has no independent gambling regulator. In June 2025 a member of the transitional legislature called for a national regulatory authority for games of chance.
- No Malian statute specifically licenses online casinos. Sports betting and online games have been run through partnerships between PMU-Mali and private, mainly multinational, companies.
- In July 2026 the leading betting platforms suspended or restricted services, citing the regulatory environment. Press reports link this to a new tax on sports-betting and virtual-game winnings in the 2026 finance law.
- No national self-exclusion scheme or dedicated gambling helpline could be identified.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.
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Historical development
Mali’s modern gambling sector grew out of horse-race betting. In 1986 the French Pari Mutuel Urbain group began a programme of technical assistance and network-building in Africa. By 1994 about ten African countries, Mali among them, had agreed to receive television broadcasts of French horse races on which local punters could bet (Le Soir de Bamako, 2024). PMU-Mali was created in August 1994 and the first official race on its network was run on 1 September 1994 (Le Matinal, via Maliweb, 2023).
The early legal basis was a series of specific statutes rather than a single gambling code. A 2011 report in the Malian press, describing the existing legislation, refers to Law No. 94-020 AN-RM of 6 May 1994, which authorised betting on horse races, and Law No. 95-014 AN-RM of 8 February 1995, which authorised the sports lotto and “millionaire” games (Le Prétoire, via Maliweb, 2011). These were replaced by Law No. 03-025 of 21 July 2003, a short law of eight articles. In the same year PMU-Mali took over the activities of the former national lottery, Lonama-SA (Le Soir de Bamako, 2024; French Wikipedia overview).
Since 2007–2008 PMU-Mali has developed points de courses en direct, outlets where customers follow races live and bet on them, many of them run with private promoters (Le Soir de Bamako, 2024). Its products include the Tiercé, Quarté, Quinté and Trio horse-race bets, lotto and sports betting (Le Matinal, 2023).
The company’s governance has repeatedly attracted attention. Several of its directors general have faced judicial proceedings, and in 2021 the Prime Minister asked the Bureau du Vérificateur Général (BVG), Mali’s state audit office, to audit its accounts (French Wikipedia overview; BVG report as published by Bamada.net).
Legal framework
Law No. 03-025 of 21 July 2003
The central statute is Law No. 03-025 of 21 July 2003, which authorises betting on horse races and certain games of chance. The full text could not be retrieved from the official journal portal for this review. Its content is therefore described from secondary sources that quote it. The most detailed is the BVG’s financial audit of PMU-Mali, signed on 29 March 2023 and published by Bamada.net. The audit states that under the 2003 law “seul le PMU-MALI est habilité à organiser des paris sur les courses de chevaux en dehors des hippodromes” (only PMU-Mali is authorised to organise bets on horse races outside racecourses). It adds that the law also governs the classic lottery, lotto, sports lotto, bingo, keno, banco and other games (BVG audit, 2023).
A monopoly, in this context, means that the law reserves an activity to a single designated body. For off-course horse-race betting, the 2003 law creates such a monopoly in PMU-Mali’s favour. For the other listed games, the available sources describe PMU-Mali as the only body officially authorised to run games of chance. They do not quote a provision that expressly prohibits other operators, so the precise scope of exclusivity outside horse racing could not be confirmed.
The 2011 reform bill and slot machines
On 22 June 2011 the Council of Ministers adopted a bill to amend Law No. 03-025. According to the government communiqué, the 2003 law confined PMU-Mali to horse-race betting, the classic lottery and a fixed list of games. That excluded slot machines and other games and, in the government’s view, cost both the state and PMU-Mali revenue. The bill was intended “to extend the activity of PMU-Mali to the operation of slot machines outside specialised establishments” (Council of Ministers communiqué, 22 June 2011, via Ouestaf; L’Indicateur du Renouveau, via Maliweb, 2011).
A November 2011 press report described the bill as amending Articles 1 and 2 of the 2003 law and replacing its Articles 4 to 8 with a single article on access. That article would bar from slot machines minors under 18, uniformed soldiers who were off duty, people carrying firearms or bladed weapons, and intoxicated persons. The same report recorded strong opposition from religious leaders (Le Prétoire, 2011). We could not confirm whether the National Assembly passed the bill, or whether an amending law was published in the Journal officiel. The 18-year age limit should therefore be treated as a proposal, not as verified law.
Administrative responsibilities
Decree No. 2012-487/PM-RM of 4 September 2012, which allocates public bodies among the ministries, lists PMU-Mali among the bodies attached to the Ministry of the Economy, Finance and Budget, as it was then named. Decree No. 2012-486/P-RM of the same date gives the Minister of Internal Security and Civil Protection responsibility for “la police des établissements classés de jeux” (the policing of classified gaming establishments) (Journal officiel du Mali, 2012, No. 36). Later decrees reallocating these responsibilities have not been traced.
The distribution of stakes on PMU-Mali’s games is fixed by ministerial order. Order No. 2613/MEF-SG of 13 July 2016 provides that 70% of stakes go to bettors as winnings, 10% to the state as fees, and 20% to PMU-Mali, of which 4.5% goes to retailers (BVG audit, 2023).
Regulator and licensing model
Mali does not have a gambling regulator in the usual sense: there is no body that licenses operators, keeps a public register or enforces technical standards. In effect, PMU-Mali combines the roles of state operator and gatekeeper. Private companies have entered the market by signing contracts with it rather than by obtaining licences from the state. In June 2025 Mountaga Diakité, rapporteur of a committee of the Conseil National de Transition (CNT), Mali’s transitional legislature, raised “the absence of a national regulatory authority for games of chance” with the Prime Minister. He proposed creating one, modelled on existing sector regulators for telecommunications, energy and public procurement. He also observed that the management and regulation of PMU-Mali are “partially entrusted to a foreign company” (Le Challenger, via Maliweb, 2025). No government response to the proposal could be found.
The BVG audit shows how this model works in practice. PMU-Mali entered into public service delegation agreements, which are contracts under which a public body entrusts the running of a service to a private company. In 2016 it signed two:
- a convention of 23 May 2016 with a private company, giving it exclusive authorisation to organise sports betting (parifoot) throughout Malian territory. The audit records turnover under this agreement of about 141.7 billion FCFA up to 31 December 2020; and
- a convention of 26 September 2016 with a technology supplier to provide and maintain a betting platform for horse racing.
The audit also found that, in a letter of 25 September 2019, PMU-Mali’s director general had authorised another company to operate land-based sports betting and online games without the prior approval of the public procurement and delegation authority (DGMP-DSP). The auditors noted that the growth of sports betting and online games, run through profit-sharing partnerships with multinational companies, “raises the question of adapting the regulatory framework to online games” (BVG audit, 2023). Between 2015 and 2020 PMU-Mali collected stakes of about 578.4 billion FCFA, an average of about 96.4 billion FCFA a year.
Casinos and gaming halls
No official list of authorised casinos in Mali could be found, and we could not identify the legal procedure under which a land-based casino would be authorised. The 2011 reform bill itself refers to “specialised establishments” for slot machines, which implies that some such venues existed outside PMU-Mali’s network. In August 2026 the Malian courts refused provisional release to ten Chinese nationals detained in connection with a clandestine casino in a residential district of Bamako. According to RFI’s reporting, the venue had operated for several months, allegedly with false administrative authorisations; these allegations remained under investigation (RFI, via AllAfrica, 2026; Afrik.com, 2026).
Online gambling and enforcement
No Malian law reviewed for this guide creates a licence for online casinos or online betting. The 2003 law predates widespread internet access. The BVG noted in 2023 that online games had developed through PMU-Mali’s partnerships, without a regulatory framework adapted to them. A 2024 Le360 report stated that online games are not covered by current regulation and are popular partly because they can be played out of sight (Le360 Afrique, 2024).
In practice, the online market has had two layers. The first is betting offered through PMU-Mali’s private partners, available both at retail outlets and online and funded largely through mobile money. The second is international websites that accept Malian customers without any arrangement with PMU-Mali. A 2025 report in Sahel Tribune stated that some of these international platforms operate in Mali without being regulated or taxed by the Malian authorities (Sahel Tribune, 2025).
Mali does not appear to have the enforcement tools common in licensing jurisdictions:
- No published blocklist. We found no official list of prohibited gambling websites and no statutory procedure requiring internet service providers to block unlicensed operators.
- No payment blocking rules. No measure was found that directs banks or mobile-money providers to refuse payments to unauthorised gambling sites. The 2026 disruption described below affected mobile-money deposits and withdrawals, but the reports attribute it to a tax dispute, not to a blocking order.
- No specific advertising code. No gambling-specific advertising rules could be identified.
Some reports nonetheless describe July 2026 as a period of closures or blocking. A trade analysis published in September 2026 cites local reports that three betting brands, two of which carried most of the national market, were “closed or blocked in a dispute over the 2026 sports-betting tax” in July 2026, and records falls in their accessibility on 4–5 July. It also notes a wider connectivity outage from 30 July to about 5 August 2026 and identifies the country’s internal conflict as the main driver of falling online demand (iGaming Afrika, 2026). It was not possible to establish from official sources whether any authority ordered access to be blocked.
Position of players
No provision found in the sources reviewed makes it an offence for an individual to place a bet or play a casino game, online or offline. No prosecution or fine of a player for gambling could be found. Criminal enforcement reported in 2026 targeted the organisers of an unauthorised gaming establishment, not its customers.
Players nevertheless face significant practical risks. Because no regulator licenses or supervises online operators, Malian law offers no specific avenue for complaints about unpaid winnings, unfair terms or account closures. The July 2026 suspension illustrates the risk: according to Sahel Tribune, players reported being unable to deposit or withdraw funds. One operator said that customer funds and winnings remained secure while it worked to restore normal service (Sahel Tribune, 2026). The minimum age for gambling could not be confirmed from a legal text. The 18-year limit in the 2011 reform bill has not been verified as enacted.
Taxation
PMU-Mali’s games are taxed mainly at the level of stakes. Under the 2016 order on the distribution of stakes, 10% of stakes is allocated to the state as fees. The BVG found that on some horse-race products this rate had been applied to PMU-Mali’s net share instead of total stakes, which may have reduced state revenue. It also found that PMU-Mali’s private partners had not paid the regulatory fee on public service delegations, set at 0.1% of annual turnover by Decree No. 09-687/P-RM of 29 December 2009. The unpaid fees came to about 152.7 million FCFA (BVG audit, 2023). PMU-Mali also reports paying taxes and duties and funding public-interest projects (Le Matinal, 2023). In 2022 it reported a net profit of about 20.9 billion FCFA (Le Soir de Bamako, 2024).
Taxation of players’ winnings is new and its details are not fully verified. In April 2025 the Malian press reported that the government was considering a tax on gambling and betting winnings. It would be withheld at source on deposits, on transfers of winnings to mobile wallets or bank accounts, and on cash withdrawals at outlets, at rates of between 1.5% and 7% (Info-Mali, 2025). This was a proposal at the time. Later reporting states that the 2026 finance law introduced a “Taxe sur les Gains des Paris Sportifs et des Jeux Virtuels”, a tax on winnings from sports betting and virtual games (Sahel Tribune, 2026). One report says the tax extends to online casino games and lottery prizes, but also states that its precise provisions had not been independently verified from official publications (Find More Africa, 2026). We could not obtain the finance law text, the rate or the date of entry into force from an official source.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Consumer protection is weak by international standards. In May 2025 Sahel Tribune reported that “there is not, to date, any dedicated structure or free helpline” for people in difficulty because of gambling. It described PMU-Mali as the only body officially authorised to run games of chance, and as operating without a real prevention policy (Sahel Tribune, 2025). We found no national self-exclusion register, no mandatory deposit limits and no published responsible gambling code.
Gambling among young people is a recurring theme in Malian reporting. Sahel Tribune described young people in Bamako, often unemployed graduates or out of school, who began betting in their teens and accumulated debts. A psychologist in Bamako reported that most of the young people he sees for anxiety or insomnia are hiding a problematic relationship with gambling. In 2024 the economist Modibo Mao Makalou told Le360 that gambling dependence was worsening and affecting players’ mental health and finances (Sahel Tribune, 2025; Le360 Afrique, 2024). There is no official prevalence survey for Mali.
Readers who are concerned about their gambling, or about someone else’s, can find general guidance in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- State audit of PMU-Mali (2021–2023). The BVG audit covering 2015–2020 was signed on 29 March 2023. It identified financial irregularities of about 1.1 billion FCFA and questioned whether the regulatory framework was adequate for online games (BVG audit).
- Proposed gambling regulator (June 2025). A CNT committee rapporteur called for a national regulatory authority for games of chance and a reform of PMU-Mali. No bill had been reported as of October 2026 (Le Challenger, 2025).
- Tax on winnings (2025–2026). A tax on winnings was proposed in April 2025. According to press reports, it was introduced by the 2026 finance law. Its rate and scope have not been confirmed from an official text (Info-Mali, 2025; Sahel Tribune, 2026).
- Suspension of betting services (July 2026). From early July 2026 the main betting platforms suspended or restricted deposits and withdrawals, and partner outlets stopped taking sports bets, although some continued to offer casino games, according to Sahel Tribune. The operators cited the regulatory environment. As of early August 2026 the authorities had announced no change to the tax, and no timetable for resumption had been given (Sahel Tribune, 2026; Find More Africa, 2026). We could not confirm whether services had resumed by the date of this review.
- Clandestine casino case (August 2026). On 5 August 2026 a court refused provisional release to ten Chinese nationals detained in an investigation into an unauthorised casino in Bamako. The investigation was continuing (Afrik.com, 2026).
- PMU-Mali expansion (2026). As part of a 2026–2030 strategic development plan, PMU-Mali opened new outlets in Kayes on 10 July 2026 and in Mahina on 25 July 2026, and launched a customer call centre. It began rolling out payment terminals to retailers for a pre-race betting service launched on 14 July (Focus Gaming News, 6 August 2026; Focus Gaming News, 17 August 2026). In August 2026 it contributed 50 million FCFA to the national Sports Biennale (Focus Gaming News, 11 August 2026).
Casino listings for players in Mali
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is authorised in Mali. Mali has no licensing regime or public register for online casinos, and lawful games of chance are organised through PMU-Mali. The listings must not be read as an indication that an operator is lawful in Mali or that it offers players any local legal protection.
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Sources and further reading
- Bureau du Vérificateur Général (published by Bamada.net), Violation de la redevance de régulation par des délégataires de PMU-MALI et irrégularités dans les conventions et marchés (2023).
- Council of Ministers of Mali (via Ouestaf), Conseil des ministres du Mali du mercredi 22 juin 2011 (le communiqué) (2011).
- L’Indicateur du Renouveau (via Maliweb), Jeux de hasard : Le PMU proposera bientôt de nouveaux jeux (2011).
- Le Prétoire (via Maliweb), Polémique autour de la réforme des jeux de hasard : les religieux préparent la contestation contre les machines à sous (2011).
- Secrétariat Général du Gouvernement, Journal officiel de la République du Mali, 2012, No. 36 (Decrees No. 2012-486/P-RM and No. 2012-487/PM-RM) (2012).
- Le Matinal (via Maliweb), 1994–2023, le PMU-Mali a 29 ans : une date, des réalisations (2023).
- Le Soir de Bamako, Pour marquer ses 30 ans d’existence : PMU-Mali fait peau neuve avec un nouveau logo (2024).
- Le360 Afrique, Jeux d’argent au Mali : machines à sous pour l’État, risque d’addiction pour les parieurs (2024).
- Info-Mali, Vers une nouvelle taxe sur les jeux et paris sportifs au Mali : une manne fiscale en ligne de mire (2025).
- Sahel Tribune, Paris sportifs : la nouvelle dépendance qui ronge la jeunesse malienne (2025).
- Le Challenger (via Maliweb), Jeux de hasard au Mali : vers la création d’une autorité de régulation ? (2025).
- Sahel Tribune, Paris sportifs au Mali : les plateformes en ligne perturbées, joueurs et acteurs dans l’attente (2026).
- Find More Africa, Online Gambling Operators Suspend Operations Amid New Gambling Tax (2026).
- iGaming Afrika, Mali iGaming demand fell twice in July and August (2026).
- RFI (via AllAfrica), Mali : 10 ressortissants chinois ont été arrêtés pour l’ouverture d’un casino clandestin (2026).
- Afrik.com, Mali : un casino clandestin impliquant des Chinois démantelé, la justice refuse leur remise en liberté (2026).
- Focus Gaming News, PMU Mali opens two new betting outlets to expand retail network (2026).
- Focus Gaming News, PMU Mali advances horse-racing betting rollout with new payment terminals (2026).
- Focus Gaming News, Mali PMU contributes CFA50m to 2026 Sports Biennale (2026).
- Wikipedia (French), Société du pari mutuel urbain (Mali) (accessed 13 October 2026).
