Gambling in Chad: Laws, Taxation and Online Casinos

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Chad has no dedicated gambling statute and no specialised gambling regulator of the kind found in licensing jurisdictions. Gambling is nevertheless widespread and visible. Lottery draws, football betting, scratch cards and pari-mutuel horse-race betting are sold from kiosks and betting halls in N’Djamena and in provincial towns, and a growing share of play takes place on mobile phones. The state’s main points of contact with the sector are fiscal: games of chance are taxed under the General Tax Code and the annual finance laws. Money-laundering rules drawn from the regional CEMAC framework also apply to designated non-financial businesses, a category that includes casinos, but the regional anti-money-laundering body has found that no authority has been designated to supervise that sector. This guide sets out what can be verified about the legal framework, the treatment of online gambling, the position of players, taxation and the protection of minors, and it flags clearly where the law could not be confirmed.

Key points

Chad has no single gambling act. A 2023 comparative study of gambling regulation in sub-Saharan Africa records that gambling in Chad is regulated through budget (finance) laws, with the Ministry of Finance and Budget as the regulating ministry and a legal age of 18.
Games of chance are taxed. The 2020 budget law placed games of chance under excise duty at 15% and added a 10% specific tax whose proceeds fund universal health coverage. Bettors’ winnings are subject to a 20% withholding at source under the 2016 General Tax Code.
No Chadian law or official decision specifically authorising, licensing or prohibiting online gambling was found. There is no published licence register, blocklist or advertising code.
The GABAC mutual evaluation (on-site visit May 2022) found that Chad’s designated non-financial businesses, a category that includes casinos, had no designated anti-money-laundering supervisor.
Underage gambling at betting kiosks is a recurring concern in the national press. In 2024 the N’Djamena city authorities said they hoped to adopt an order penalising it; no such order could be verified.

Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.

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Historical development

Chad’s legal system derives from the French civil-law tradition, and its gambling market has developed along lines familiar from other francophone states in Central and West Africa: draw-based lotteries, fixed-odds football betting (pari-foot) and pari-mutuel betting on horse races, sold through small retail points. Unlike several of its neighbours, however, Chad does not appear to have a national lottery established by statute. Searches of official and press sources for this guide found no evidence of a state-owned national lottery company in operation, and no statute creating a gambling monopoly. That gap should be read with caution: Chadian legislation is not comprehensively available online, and the absence of evidence is not proof that no such instrument exists.

What the record does show is steady growth in retail betting over the past decade. In March 2022 the independent news site Alwihda Info described the rising number of bettors in N’Djamena, listing loto, horse-race betting, scratch cards and football betting, and quoting players who said they had been betting for six years and for more than eleven years (Alwihda Info, 2022). An earlier Alwihda report from May 2021, set in the Madjorio area of the capital’s 1st arrondissement, quoted one player who said he spent 3,000 CFA francs a day on lottery draws (Alwihda Info, 2021).

The state’s most visible intervention in the sector came during the COVID-19 pandemic. On 19 March 2020 the minister delegate to the Presidency in charge of national defence and security announced that “all cabarets, gaming centres, casinos, bars and restaurants” would be closed throughout the national territory (Alwihda Info, 19 March 2020). The measure was a public-health closure of premises, not a change to gambling law, but it confirms that casinos and gaming centres were operating as recognised categories of business.

Legal framework

Checking gambling legislation and licensing

No dedicated gambling statute

The most systematic outside assessment is a comparative policy analysis of 49 sub-Saharan African countries published in the journal Public Health in 2023 by Sichali and colleagues (Sichali et al., 2023). Its country tables (supplementary material) record Chad’s legal status as “legal, regulated”, state that “gambling is regulated in budget laws”, give the legal age of participation as 18, and identify the regulator as the Ministry of Finance and Budget. The same tables list lotteries, casinos, sports betting and gaming machines as covered products, but not online gambling or advertising. Enforcement is recorded as “unreported”, and for public reporting the authors recorded no data.

In practical terms, “regulated in budget laws” means that the legal texts that mention gambling most clearly are tax texts. These tell operators what they must pay, but they do not establish a licensing procedure, conditions of entry, technical standards or player-protection duties of the kind contained in a gambling act.

Tax legislation

The General Tax Code (Code général des impôts), 2016 edition, published by the Directorate General of Taxes, treats bettors’ winnings as taxable non-commercial profits. Article 49(III) provides that the paying bodies shall make “a withholding at source of 20%” and pay it to the Public Treasury. Any further provisions of the Code on games of chance could not be read in the online copy available for this guide, so they are not summarised here.

The Budget Law for 2020, adopted by the National Assembly on 30 December 2019, amended the excise table so that “jeux de hasard” (games of chance) bear excise duty at 15% together with a 10% specific tax, and apparatus used for games of chance and entertainment (customs heading 9504) bear excise at 15%. The same law allocates the proceeds of the specific taxes on cigars, wines, spirits, beers, games of chance and non-returnable packaging to the financing of universal health coverage. The Code’s list of exemptions from value added tax in Article 230 included “games of chance and entertainment” (item 30); the 2020 law amended other items of that article and left the remainder unchanged, which suggests the exemption continued, although the law does not restate it.

Criminal law

Chad adopted a new Penal Code by Law No. 001/PR/2017 of 8 May 2017, replacing the 1967 code (Lextenso, 2017; Hands Off Cain). The 2017 Code introduced or modernised offences relevant to the gambling sector indirectly, notably money laundering, corruption in the private sector, the criminal liability of legal persons and a set of cybercrime offences. This guide could not obtain a reliable copy of the full Code and therefore could not verify whether, or in what terms, it penalises unauthorised lotteries, gaming houses or betting. No reported prosecution for a gambling offence was found.

Anti-money-laundering law

Chad is a member of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), whose regulations apply directly in member states. Domestically, Law No. 29/PR/2018 deals with money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation, as recorded in the GABAC mutual evaluation of Chad. In December 2024 the CEMAC Ministerial Committee adopted Regulation No. 02/24/CEMAC/UMAC/CM of 20 December 2024 on the prevention and repression of money laundering and terrorist and proliferation financing in Central Africa, which took effect on signature and repealed contrary provisions of the earlier Regulation No. 01/CEMAC/UMAC/CM of 11 April 2016 (Droit Médias Finance).

Regulator and licensing model

Chad’s model is best described as unstructured toleration under fiscal control. A monopoly model reserves gambling to a single (usually state) operator; a licensing model admits private operators that meet published conditions; a prohibition model bans gambling outright. Chad fits none of these cleanly. Private retail betting operates openly, is taxed, and advertises; but no specialised regulator, licence categories, application procedure, fee schedule or public register of authorised operators could be found.

The ministry most clearly associated with gambling is the Ministry of Finance and Budget, both through the tax administration and as the regulating ministry identified by Sichali et al. Other public bodies have appeared in particular contexts: the security ministry ordered the 2020 closures, and in 2024 the N’Djamena city hall said it would meet the governorate, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Social Action to decide how to respond to underage betting (Tchadinfos, 20 May 2024). Some secondary sources state that authorisation to open a casino or gaming establishment is a matter for the Ministry of Territorial Administration or the Interior; this guide could not verify that claim in a primary text.

The GABAC mutual evaluation report provides independent confirmation of the institutional gap. GABAC (Groupe d’action contre le blanchiment d’argent en Afrique centrale) is the FATF-style regional body for Central Africa; its report on Chad was adopted by the 15th plenary session of the GABAC Technical Commission in April 2023, following an on-site visit from 9 to 27 May 2022, and was later published by the FATF. It records that casinos, along with dealers in precious stones and metals and mobile-money providers, were not represented in the working groups of the national money-laundering risk assessment during the on-site visit. More broadly, it finds that the sector of designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs), which includes casinos, “does not have designated AML/CFT authorities”, and it lists the absence of a DNFBP supervisor among the main weaknesses of Chad’s system. Chad received low effectiveness ratings on all eleven immediate outcomes assessed.

Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced

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No Chadian statute, decree or regulatory decision dealing specifically with online gambling was found. The finance-law provisions on games of chance do not distinguish between retail and remote channels, and nothing reviewed for this guide either creates an online licence or expressly prohibits online play. The 2023 comparative study likewise lists online gambling as a product not covered by Chad’s regulation.

In practice, betting has moved onto mobile phones. A May 2026 Alwihda report describes platforms on which users can bet “in a few clicks” on sports matches, virtual games and digital draws available at any hour, and links the trend to the spread of connected phones and, in passing, mobile payments; a kiosk manager in the capital’s 7th arrondissement said his customers were mostly young, chiefly students and young workers, some staking small sums (Alwihda Info, 19 May 2026). Betting companies also promote their products at public events: in December 2025 one sports-betting platform opened a fan village in N’Djamena for the Africa Cup of Nations, offering prizes to participants who made a deposit into their betting account (Tchadinfos, 22 December 2025).

Enforcement tools common elsewhere are absent from the record. No list of blocked gambling websites, no instruction to internet service providers or mobile-money providers to block gambling transactions, and no gambling-specific advertising rules were found. Offshore online casinos are therefore not the subject of any identified Chadian measure, but they are not authorised either: no Chadian authority was found to have issued a licence to an online casino operator.

Position of players

No provision making it an offence for an individual to place a bet or play a game of chance, whether in a kiosk or online, was identified, and no prosecution or fine imposed on a player was found in the national press. Because the text of the 2017 Penal Code could not be checked on this point, the position cannot be stated as settled. The most accurate summary is that players in Chad face no verified criminal exposure for gambling, but that they also have no specialised regulator to complain to and no statutory guarantees on fairness, payment of winnings or protection of deposits.

Two further points follow from the sources. First, the legal age is generally treated as 18: the comparative study records 18 as the age of participation, and operators’ own flyers state that their games are “forbidden to under-18s” (Tchadinfos, 2024). Secondly, winnings paid by an operator are in principle taxable, with the payer withholding 20% under Article 49(III) of the General Tax Code. Players using foreign websites fall outside that withholding mechanism, and no guidance on how such winnings should be declared was found.

Taxation

Operators

Operators are taxed principally through indirect taxes on games of chance. The 2020 Budget Law sets excise duty on games of chance at 15% plus a 10% specific tax earmarked for universal health coverage, and excise at 15% on gaming apparatus. The General Tax Code’s chapter on games of chance, entertainment and attractions sets out further rules, which could not be read for this guide. The 2016 Code listed games of chance and entertainment among the exemptions from value added tax (Article 230), and the 2020 amendments to that article did not restate or remove the item. Later finance laws may have altered these rates; the 2021 to 2026 finance laws could not be retrieved in full, so readers should check the current text with the Directorate General of Taxes.

Players

Winnings received by bettors are classed as non-commercial profits, and the paying body must withhold 20% at source (General Tax Code 2016, art. 49(III)). A January 2025 press summary of the 2025 tax measures reported a reduction in the withholding rate on capital income from 20% to 18%; whether that change also applies to betting winnings could not be confirmed.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Chad has no national self-exclusion register, no statutory deposit or loss limits and no gambling helpline that could be identified. Player protection depends largely on operators’ own age notices and on families and local authorities. The national press has repeatedly documented the resulting risks:

Minors at kiosks. In May 2024 Tchadinfos reported that children under 18 crowd into betting outlets in N’Djamena despite operators’ 18+ notices, and that some are sent by parents to place bets. The city hall’s head of communication warned that the practice exposes children to theft and dropping out of school (Tchadinfos, 2024).
School absence in the provinces. In March 2026 Tchadinfos reported that teenagers in Koumra, capital of Mandoul province, gather at betting outlets from around 8 a.m., sometimes in school uniform, and called on local administrative authorities and community organisations to inspect betting points and run awareness campaigns in schools and neighbourhoods (Tchadinfos, 13 March 2026).
Household budgets. Alwihda’s reporting describes daily stakes that are substantial relative to informal incomes, and players who acknowledge spending “colossal” sums without winning (Alwihda Info, 2021). A March 2025 article urged the government to ban lottery games for minors and to set an age limit for players (Alwihda Info, 6 March 2025).

The absence of an AML supervisor for casinos, noted by GABAC, also bears on consumer protection, because customer-due-diligence checks are one of the few mechanisms that would oblige operators to identify players. Readers concerned about their own gambling or that of a family member can find general guidance, including self-help tools that do not depend on national schemes, in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

Regional AML reform (December 2024). CEMAC adopted Regulation No. 02/24/CEMAC/UMAC/CM of 20 December 2024, replacing the earlier regional AML framework and applying directly in Chad. Whether Chad has since designated a supervisor for casinos and other gambling businesses could not be verified.
Proposed municipal order on minors (2024). The N’Djamena city hall said in May 2024 that it hoped an order would be adopted to penalise the practice of letting children play games of chance. As of 13 October 2026 no adopted order was found.
Calls for a minimum age in law (2025–2026). Press commentary in March 2025 and March 2026 called for a ban on lottery play by minors, an age limit for players and inspections of betting points; no government bill was identified.
Horse racing and pari-mutuel funding (June 2026). At the 2026 Grand Prix de la République, the president of the national association of horse breeders and racing actors asked for lasting funding for racing through pari-mutuel mechanisms of the kind used in other countries. The Presidency announced an exceptional contribution of 50 million CFA francs to racing, but no decision on a pari-mutuel scheme was reported (Tchadinfos, 22 June 2026).
Growth of mobile betting (2025–2026). Press reports describe rapid growth of app-based betting among young urban adults, without any accompanying regulatory measure.

Casino listings for players in Chad

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that any operator is licensed or authorised in Chad: no Chadian authority was found to license online casinos, and no public register of authorised gambling operators exists. The listings must not be read as an indication that a particular site is lawful, regulated or safe for players in Chad.

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Key points

Top Rated Online Casinos for Chad

Historical development

Legal framework

No dedicated gambling statute

Tax legislation

Criminal law

Anti-money-laundering law

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling: what is permitted and how it is enforced

Position of players

Taxation

Operators

Players

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in Chad

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

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