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Eritrea Online Casino Guide

Published by Casino News Daily editorial teamReviewed byFilip RadulovicOur editorial approach

Eritrea has no published gambling law, no gambling regulator and no licensing system for casinos, betting or online gaming that we could identify in official sources. Its criminal law was recodified in 2015, when the Penal Code of the State of Eritrea replaced the Transitional Penal Code, a version of Ethiopia’s 1957 Penal Code that Eritrea had applied since 1991. No article title in the table of contents of the 2015 Code refers to gambling, gaming, betting or lotteries, although the publicly available copies do not reproduce the full text of the offences, and we found no official record of a state lottery. In practice, the main constraints on online gambling are limited internet access, a state-controlled telecommunications sector and strict foreign-exchange controls. This guide sets out what the available legal texts say, where the record is silent, and how international sanctions on Eritrea have changed since 2018.

Key points

The Penal Code of the State of Eritrea (2015) repealed and replaced the Transitional Penal Code. No article title in its table of contents refers to gambling, gaming, betting or lotteries; the full text of the offences could not be checked.
We found no gambling statute, regulator, licence register or state lottery in official Eritrean or international sources. No operator, land-based or online, is known to be licensed.
Internet use is very low: the World Bank, using ITU data, records 14.3% of the population using the internet in 2020, the latest year it publishes. Fixed and mobile telecommunications are a state-owned monopoly.
Regulations reported in 2005 require transactions to be settled in nakfa and make unauthorised foreign-exchange dealing punishable by imprisonment.
UN sanctions imposed by Resolution 1907 (2009) were lifted on 14 November 2018. US designations of four Eritrean entities made in 2021 were removed on 18 September 2026 after the underlying emergency expired; the EU listed Eritrea’s National Security Office in March 2021, and we could not confirm its current status from an official source.
There is no national responsible gambling scheme, self-exclusion register or gambling helpline.

Last reviewed: 14 October 2026.

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Historical development

At independence, Eritrea kept much of the legislation previously in force, in transitional form. In criminal law this meant the Penal Code of Ethiopia 1957 (Proclamation No. 158 of 1957), which, according to the Refworld record of the 1957 Code, Eritrea adopted at independence and applied as the Eritrean Transitional Penal Code until the 2015 Penal Code took effect.

The state keeps tight control over communications and foreign currency. Gambling has not been the subject of any specific legislation that we could locate. Unlike its neighbour Ethiopia, which has a statutory National Lottery Administration (re-established by Proclamation No. 535/2007, according to an Abyssinia Law commentary), Eritrea does not appear to have created a state lottery or a gaming authority.

The most significant legal change of the period was the adoption in 2015 of new codes, including the Penal Code of the State of Eritrea. The English text published on Refworld is an unofficial translation, and the Minister of Justice’s foreword is dated 15 May 2015.

Legal framework

The Penal Code of the State of Eritrea (2015)

Article 1 of the Penal Code of the State of Eritrea states that “the Transitional Penal Code of Eritrea is hereby repealed and replaced by this Penal Code of Eritrea”. Under Article 3, the Code takes effect on its publication in the Gazette of Eritrean Laws.

Three general provisions matter for gambling. First, Article 7(1) states the principle of legality: “No person shall be found guilty for conduct that, at the time of the conduct, was not prohibited by law.” Second, Article 5(1) applies the Code’s general part to offences “in this Code or any other law”, which means that offences may also be created by separate statutes. Third, Article 5(2)(b) and Articles 63 and 65 set out a system of penalty classes: nine classes of serious offences and three classes of petty offences. The petty classes carry, for example, a fine of 500 to 5,000 nakfa or up to one month’s imprisonment (Class 3), rising to a fine of 20,001 to 50,000 nakfa or six to twelve months’ imprisonment (Class 1). Offences created by other laws are to be penalised by reference to these classes.

We reviewed the Code’s table of contents for the special part, which covers offences against public order (Articles 186 to 207), the fiscal and economic interests of the State (Articles 215 to 228), public health, public decency (Articles 312 to 319), property, fraud and forgery (Articles 328 to 375) and drugs (Articles 376 to 396). None of the listed article titles refers to gambling, gaming, betting, lotteries or games of chance. The publicly available copies we consulted, on Refworld and on the FAO FAOLEX database, reproduce the full text of the general part but could not be fully checked for the special part. We therefore state the finding with care: on the evidence of its table of contents only, the 2015 Code does not appear to contain an offence headed as a gambling offence. We cannot exclude that gambling-related conduct is caught by more general provisions in the special part, or by regulations that are not publicly available, and we found no other statute that creates a gambling offence.

The Transitional Penal Code (1991–2015)

The Penal Code of Ethiopia 1957, as applied in Eritrea, provided in Article 3 that “Nothing in this Code shall affect Police regulations and special laws of a penal nature”. That allowed gambling and other conduct to be dealt with by separate regulations. We were unable to obtain a complete text of the 1957 Code’s special part and petty-offences provisions, and so could not verify whether, or how, it treated lotteries, gaming or betting.

Other legislation

We found no Eritrean gambling act, lottery proclamation, casino regulation, gambling tax provision or advertising rule addressing gambling. The absence of a published gambling statute should therefore be read as a gap in the accessible record, not as conclusive proof that no relevant regulation exists.

Regulator and licensing model

Eritrea has neither a licensing regime (a regulator authorising private operators) nor a state monopoly operator. We could identify no body with responsibility for gambling, no licence types or fees, and no register of licensed operators. Nor could we identify a state-run lottery or other state gaming operator in official sources.

There is therefore no lawful channel through which an operator could obtain an Eritrean licence to offer casino games, sports betting or lotteries, whether in person or online. Whether such activity is lawful is left to the general law, including the Penal Code and the foreign-exchange regulations described below.

Online gambling, connectivity and payments

Internet access

Internet use in Eritrea is very low. The World Bank indicator for individuals using the internet, which draws on the ITU’s World Telecommunication/ICT Indicators Database, records 14.3% of the population in 2020. The World Bank publishes no value for Eritrea after 2020 (series checked via the World Bank data API, last updated 8 October 2026).

Telecommunications are controlled by the state. A BuddeComm market report (October 2026) states that “Eritrea’s telecom sector operates under a state-owned monopoly for fixed and mobile services” and puts mobile penetration at about 20%; it also states that the provision of internet services is open to competition. These are the firm’s own estimates, from the public summary of a commercial report. Reporters Without Borders’ country profile, first published in 2011, describes the state operator EriTel as owning the network infrastructure and being “directly controlled by the government”, with licensed internet service providers dependent on it for bandwidth. The US State Department 2023 human rights report on Eritrea states that “the government restricted and disrupted access to the internet” and that internet penetration was “so low and unreliable” that independent online media did not exist. Freedom House reports that the authorities regularly block access to social media platforms and close internet cafés.

Online gambling and enforcement

No Eritrean law that we could identify licenses, prohibits or otherwise refers specifically to online gambling. We found no published blocklist of gambling websites, no advertising rules for gambling and no enforcement actions against online operators. Any offshore website that can be reached from Eritrea is therefore operating without Eritrean authorisation of any kind.

Foreign-exchange and banking controls

Eritrea’s foreign-exchange regime is restrictive. According to an AFP report of January 2005, regulations issued that month required that “all transactions in Eritrea shall be settled in nakfa” unless the Bank of Eritrea authorised otherwise, and required foreign currency to be exchanged at the national bank at the official rate. A Reuters report of April 2005 described further regulations, dated 28 March 2005 and in force from 15 April 2005, against unauthorised currency exchange and the unauthorised import or export of foreign currency, with penalties of up to two years’ imprisonment and a fine of two million nakfa. We did not find a more recent official statement of these rules, and they should be read as dated.

Access to cash has also been controlled. In an undated report, Voice of America described a currency replacement programme in which all nakfa notes had to be exchanged for new notes, with bank withdrawals limited to 20,000 nakfa during the six-week exchange period and checks on transactions above that amount. In its 2019 Article IV mission statement, the IMF noted that “the banking sector is vulnerable and foreign exchange is scarce”. Taken together, these controls mean that sending money to, or receiving winnings from, a foreign gambling website would involve foreign-currency transactions that Eritrean law tightly restricts.

International sanctions

United Nations. The UN Security Council imposed sanctions on Eritrea, including an arms embargo, by Resolution 1907 (2009), later supplemented by Resolutions 2023 (2011), 2060 (2012) and 2111 (2013). By Resolution 2444, adopted unanimously on 14 November 2018 at its 8398th meeting (voting record), the Council terminated the arms embargo, travel bans, asset freezes and targeted measures on Eritrea imposed by those resolutions, as set out in the UN press release on the meeting.

United States. On 12 November 2021 the US Treasury designated four Eritrean entities, the Eritrean Defense Forces, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice, the Hidri Trust and the Red Sea Trading Corporation, together with two individuals, under Executive Order 14046, which concerned the conflict in northern Ethiopia (Treasury press release). The national emergency underlying that order was continued for a year in September 2025, but was not continued beyond 17 September 2026. On 18 September 2026 the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) announced that the emergency “has expired” and removed the persons designated under it (OFAC recent actions); the removal of the four entities and two individuals was published in the Federal Register on 23 September 2026. Removal from this programme does not affect designations under any other authority.

European Union. On 22 March 2021 the Council of the EU listed further persons and entities under the EU Global Human Rights Sanctions Regime, citing among other things serious violations in Eritrea (Council press release). The Eritrean listing, in Council Implementing Regulation (EU) 2021/478, is the National Security Office of the Government of Eritrea; the measures are an asset freeze and a prohibition on making funds available (Africanews report). Listings under the regime are reviewed annually: on 4 December 2025 the Council prolonged the listings until 8 December 2026. That announcement does not name individual listings, and we could not confirm from an official consolidated list whether the Eritrean entry remains in force as of October 2026. This note summarises official announcements and is not legal advice.

Position of players

In the legal texts we could access, we found no provision of Eritrean law that makes it an offence for an individual to gamble, whether privately, in a venue or online, and no recorded prosecution or fine of a player for gambling. Article 7(1) of the 2015 Penal Code requires that conduct be prohibited by law before anyone can be convicted for it, but because the full text of the Code’s offences and any subsidiary regulations could not be checked, this is not confirmation that gambling is lawful. Equally, it does not mean that gambling online is lawful or safe. No operator is authorised in Eritrea, so players have no local regulator, no complaints body and no legal protection if an operator does not pay. In addition, transactions in foreign currency outside authorised channels have been punishable under the foreign-exchange regulations described above, and the State Department reports that the government monitored some internet communications. This guide does not offer advice on how to get around these restrictions.

Taxation

We found no gambling duty, betting tax or lottery levy in Eritrean law, and no published rule on the taxation of gambling winnings. Readers should not assume that winnings are tax-free; general income tax rules may apply, and we could not verify how they would treat gambling income.

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Eritrea has no national responsible gambling scheme. We found no self-exclusion register, no statutory limits on stakes or deposits, no gambling helpline and no specialist treatment service. People who are concerned about their own gambling or someone else’s can find general information in our responsible gambling guide.

Recent and upcoming developments

US sanctions lapse (September 2026). The national emergency under Executive Order 14046 expired on 17 September 2026, and OFAC removed the four Eritrean entities and two individuals designated under it on 18 September 2026.
EU human rights sanctions. The March 2021 listing of Eritrea’s National Security Office falls under a regime whose listings were prolonged in December 2025 until 8 December 2026; whether the Eritrean entry was among them, and whether it will be renewed, should be checked against the EU’s official sanctions publications.
Gambling legislation. We found no bill, consultation or announcement on gambling regulation in Eritrea for 2024–2026.

Casino listings for players in Eritrea

The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. No operator is licensed in Eritrea: we found no gambling licensing regime, regulator or register under which an operator could be authorised. The sources we reviewed do not show a specific criminal prohibition on gambling, but they also show no lawful basis for offering online casino games to people in Eritrea, and the listings must not be read as an indication that playing is lawful. Eritrean foreign-exchange controls restrict payments in foreign currency, and remaining international targeted measures may restrict dealings with listed Eritrean bodies.

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Eritrea Online Casino Guide

Key points

Online casinos for Eritrea

Historical development

Legal framework

The Penal Code of the State of Eritrea (2015)

The Transitional Penal Code (1991–2015)

Other legislation

Regulator and licensing model

Online gambling, connectivity and payments

Internet access

Online gambling and enforcement

Foreign-exchange and banking controls

International sanctions

Position of players

Taxation

Consumer protection and responsible gambling

Recent and upcoming developments

Casino listings for players in Eritrea

Related country guides

Sources and further reading

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