Legal casino gambling age in Gabon
Gabon regulates gambling through a state-led model that has changed substantially since 2020. An ordinance of 14 August 2020, ratified by law in February 2021, replaced an older statute and set up a system of authorisations, licences and declarations overseen by a commission within the Ministry of the Interior. In December 2025 the government went further: two ordinances dated 30 December 2025 strengthened the state monopoly over games of chance, abolished that commission and created La Gabonaise des Jeux (GDJ), a state-owned company that now organises the sector and selects private operators to work under its supervision.
Key points
- Ordinance No. 0012/PR/2020 of 14 August 2020, ratified by Law No. 040/2020 of 18 February 2021, created three categories of gambling activity, the third of which covers online betting companies.
- Ordinances No. 0010/PR/2025 and No. 0011/PR/2025 of 30 December 2025 reinforced the state monopoly and created La Gabonaise des Jeux, a state-owned company under the technical supervision of the Ministry of the Interior.
- Authorisations, licences and declarations issued under the earlier regime entered an expiry phase on 7 April 2026; operators were given until 7 July 2026 to regularise their position within the GDJ framework.
- Since 2025 the government has required gambling payment flows to pass through a single state-designated aggregation platform, and has said that operators working from abroad without authorisation and using payment methods not permitted in the CEMAC zone are acting unlawfully.
- No statutory penalty for players was found in the 2020 text; penalties fall on operators, their staff and those who advertise or recruit for unauthorised gambling.
Last reviewed: 13 October 2026.
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Historical development
Before 2020, gambling in Gabon was governed by Law No. 24/2004 on the authorisation and regulation of games of chance. The 2020 ordinance repealed this law; its final article refers to “la loi n°24/2004 du 29 avril 2005 portant autorisation d’exploitation et réglementation des jeux de hasard en République Gabonaise” (the year in the number and the date of the law do not match as printed in the Journal officiel). The financial newspaper EcoMatin later described that older law as obsolete because it addressed only physical gambling activities.
On 14 August 2020 the President adopted Ordinance No. 0012/PR/2020 regulating “games of entertainment, money and chance” (jeux de divertissement, d’argent et de hasard). An ordinance is a measure adopted by the executive on matters normally reserved to Parliament, which must later be ratified by statute. Parliament ratified it through Law No. 040/2020 of 18 February 2021, published in the Journal officiel No. 102 ter of 22 February 2021. On 19 February 2021 the Council of Ministers adopted two implementing decrees: one on the powers, organisation and functioning of the new supervisory commission and one on how the games were to be operated and controlled. According to Gabon Media Time, the stated aims were to prevent excessive or pathological gambling, protect minors and ensure the integrity and transparency of gambling operations.
The Ministry of the Interior opened the sector to applications on 23 June 2022. As reported by Gabonreview, interested companies could submit expressions of interest until 14 July 2022 for authorisations, licences or declarations in any of the three categories. Filing fees were non-refundable, authorisations were valid for five years, and a numerus clausus, meaning a numerical cap on the number of gaming establishments, applied to new sites.
The political context then changed. Following the general election of August 2023, the military took power on 30 August 2023 and Brice Clotaire Oligui Nguema led a transitional government; he was elected president on 12 April 2025 and inaugurated on 3 May 2025 (2025 presidential election overview).
Legal framework
The 2020 ordinance as ratified in 2021
The text published in the Journal officiel as part of Law No. 040/2020 sets out the framework that applied until the 2025 reform:
- Definition. Article 4 defines gambling as “tout jeu ou pari pour lequel un enjeu de nature quelconque est engagé”, where chance plays a part, and defines a bet (pari) as a game in which winnings depend on predicting a result.
- Three categories (Article 7). The first covers casinos, lotteries and slot machines; the second covers horse-race and sports betting in halls, at racecourses or at kiosks; the third covers “les entreprises de paris en ligne”, that is, online betting companies.
- Three forms of permission (Article 8). An authorisation was required for casinos, lotteries and slot machines and was granted by presidential decree on the proposal of the Minister of the Interior after a report by the commission. A licence was required for land-based betting and for trading, importing, leasing or maintaining gambling equipment, again by presidential decree. A declaration to the Minister of the Interior, made “contre récépissé” (against a receipt), was required for online betting. All three were valid for five years and renewable; authorisations and licences were also personal and non-transferable.
- Online betting. Article 15 restricts online operation to betting companies (“Cette exploitation est ouverte aux seules sociétés de paris”), and Article 39 allows operators of physical betting to offer online or remote betting as well. The text does not create a separate category for online casino games such as online slots or table games.
- Penalties (Articles 32 to 37). Offences are punishable by six months’ to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of CFA francs 2 million to 10 million, or either penalty. Penalties double for repeat offences or where the offence involves a person under 21. Courts may confiscate stakes and equipment and order temporary or permanent closure.
The December 2025 ordinances
On 29 December 2025 the Council of Ministers considered six texts on gambling under the Ministry of the Interior, Security and Decentralisation. According to the final communiqué, these were a draft ordinance on the rules for games of entertainment, money and chance; a draft ordinance on the creation, powers and organisation of La Gabonaise des Jeux; a draft decree approving its statutes, together with the statutes; and a draft decree approving the specifications (cahier des charges) for operating lottery and betting games, together with those specifications. The texts were adopted under Articles 94 and 99 of the Constitution and were presented as a “renforcement du monopole de l’État dans le secteur des jeux de hasard”. The reform abolished the Commission supérieure des jeux de hasard and its technical secretariat.
The resulting ordinances are numbered 0010/PR/2025 and 0011/PR/2025 and dated 30 December 2025, as stated in the GDJ’s February 2026 communiqué reported by Gabonreview. Trade publication Focus Gaming News reports that the GDJ was established under Ordinance No. 0011/PR/2025. The full texts of both ordinances could not be located on the Journal officiel website at the time of review, so their detailed provisions, including whether and how far they amend the 2020 rules on online betting, could not be verified.
The ordinances then went through parliamentary ratification. The Minister of the Interior, Adrien Nguema Mba, presented the ratification bill to the National Assembly on 29 April 2026, saying that the reform aimed to “consacrer le monopole de l’État” in the sector (Gabonreview, 30 April 2026). On 10 June 2026 he appeared before the Senate’s economic affairs committee; Gabonreview presented the reform as a response to digital platforms and online games that are difficult to control and as a way of protecting citizens from addiction (Gabonreview, 12 June 2026). By August 2026, Parliament had adopted the law ratifying the ordinance creating the GDJ (Gabonreview, 10 August 2026); the number of the ratification law was not found.
Regulator and licensing model
Gabon has moved from a licensing model, in which the state grants permissions to competing private operators, towards a state monopoly model, in which the state reserves the activity to itself and may let private firms take part only under its control.
2021 to 2025: the Commission supérieure
Under Article 6 of the 2020 ordinance, the regulator was the Commission supérieure des jeux de hasard, created within the Ministry of the Interior. It reported on applications, identified breaches and proposed sanctions; formal authorisations and licences were granted by presidential decree. In 2025 the commission was chaired by the then Minister of the Interior and Security, Hermann Immongault. On 21 May 2025 it gave promoters of gambling and betting 72 hours, until 24 May 2025, to present documents proving their activity was lawful, with sanctions to be decided at an extraordinary session the following day (Gabonreview, 22 May 2025).
Since 2026: La Gabonaise des Jeux
The GDJ is a state-owned company (société d’État) with legal personality and management autonomy, placed under the technical supervision of the Ministry of the Interior (Gabonreview, 30 April 2026). The texts adopted by the Council of Ministers on 29 December 2025 included a decree approving its statutes and a decree approving the specifications (cahier des charges) for lottery and betting games. Gabonreview reports that it holds the state’s monopoly over games of entertainment, money and chance, including lotteries, sports betting and instant games (Gabonreview, 20 September 2026). Before the Senate, the minister said it would have a national network of 2,000 points of sale and ensure “la traçabilité intégrale des flux financiers”.
Private firms may still operate, but as partners of the GDJ rather than as independent licensees. On 12 February 2026 the GDJ launched a call for expressions of interest to select private operators that would work “under the supervision and control” of the company. Applications closed on 2 March 2026. Applicants had to show “des capacités techniques, financières et organisationnelles avérées” and comply with national requirements on preventing excessive gambling, protecting minors, combating money laundering and terrorist financing, and securing transactions (Gabon Media Time, 12 February 2026). The GDJ stated that “toutes les autorisations, licences et déclarations antérieures deviendront caduques” after three months. Focus Gaming News reports that earlier permissions entered an expiry phase on 7 April 2026 and that operators had until 7 July 2026 to regularise.
As of mid-August 2026, the GDJ had not published which operators were selected, what a licence costs or how much operators pay to the state through the company; Gabonreview listed these as open questions (Gabonreview, 15 August 2026). No public register of authorised operators was found.
Online gambling and enforcement
Gabonese law has recognised online betting since 2020, when online betting companies were made the third category of regulated activity, subject to a declaration to the Minister of the Interior. The 2020 text does not provide a specific regime for online casino games. Whether the 2025 ordinances create such a regime could not be confirmed, because their texts were not available. In practice, any online gambling service offered lawfully to residents must now operate within the GDJ framework, either through the GDJ itself or as a private partner selected by it.
Enforcement has focused on payment flows rather than on website blocking. At its meeting of 12 August 2025, the Council of Ministers announced a national “integrator-aggregator” platform for gambling transactions. An aggregator in this sense is a single technical platform through which stakes and winnings pass, so that the state can see and tax them. The platform was entrusted to a Gabonese company working with a Canadian firm. The government said it would trace financial flows, guarantee bettors’ winnings, optimise taxation of the sector and help monitor addiction risks (Gabonreview, 13 August 2025).
The Ministry of the Interior’s diagnosis, as reported by Gabon Media Time, was that some companies operate illegally from abroad, without authorisation or licence, use payment methods prohibited in the CEMAC zone (the Central African Economic and Monetary Community), do not guarantee winnings, create no local jobs and avoid tax. The same report notes that the platform is to be the required channel for all gambling operations, including sports betting, lotteries and online games, and records criticism that the contract was awarded without a tender, which sources close to the file justified on the ground that public-private partnership agreements do not require one.
On 19 September 2025 the Minister of the Interior, as chair of the commission, announced that operators had until 1 October 2025 to regularise through the platform, warning that “passé ce délai, des sanctions jusqu’à la suspension de leur activité seront appliquées” (Gabonreview, 21 September 2025). Gabonreview reported that most payment operators had already joined the platform, though some remained reluctant. No published list of sanctioned operators was found, and no evidence was found of a formal internet blocking list for gambling websites.
On advertising, Article 33 of the 2020 text makes it an offence to advertise, or recruit players for, an unauthorised gambling establishment, including a foreign establishment that is not expressly authorised in Gabon.
Position of players
The 2020 ordinance, as ratified, sets penalties for those who operate unauthorised gambling, for managers and staff, and for anyone who advertises or recruits players for unauthorised establishments. It does not set out a specific offence or penalty for a player who gambles with an unauthorised operator. No reports of players being prosecuted or fined for online gambling were found. Because the 2025 ordinances could not be consulted, it cannot be confirmed that they leave the player’s position unchanged.
The practical risks are nonetheless real: the Ministry of the Interior has stated that unauthorised operators do not guarantee the payment of winnings, and players using them have no recourse to a Gabonese regulator.
Access to gaming rooms is closed to anyone under 21 under Article 24 of the 2020 text, as well as to persons who are excluded or banned, intoxicated persons and certain legally incapacitated persons at the request of their representative. Operators may not lend money or extend credit to players, and cash machines are banned inside gaming premises.
Taxation
Gambling taxation in Gabon is set mainly through the annual finance laws rather than in the gambling legislation itself. The 2020 ordinance provides that each gaming machine is subject to a tax stamp (vignette fiscale) fixed by the finance law, and that finance laws set the sums payable to the Treasury for licences and authorisations.
Press reports give the following figures, which have not been checked against the finance laws themselves:
- Sika Finance reported in December 2025 that operators paid rates “de l’ordre de 4,5%” of overall receipts, and that the sector yielded an estimated CFA francs 185 million in taxes and levies in 2024, with 221.5 million projected for 2025. EcoMatin attributes the 4.5% tax to the 2024 finance law and states that it failed to make the sector contribute meaningfully to the economy.
- Gabonreview reported in August 2026 that the 2026 finance law expects about CFA francs 1.3 billion from the tax on bets and games of chance.
- EcoMatin cited a market-research estimate of USD 5.3 million (about CFA francs 3 billion) for the sports betting market in 2025.
No source was found setting out a specific tax on players’ winnings in Gabon.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
The 2020 ordinance contains a set of player-protection duties for operators. Under Article 30, operators must provide self-exclusion and moderation tools, allow players to set limits on deposits and stakes, show a real-time account balance, display warnings about the risks of excessive gambling, and inform players about registration on lists of banned players; the wording of the warning is set by an order of the health minister. Under Article 31, operators must report annually on their responsible-gambling measures and on their controls against fraud, money laundering and terrorist financing. Article 25 requires each gaming room to display the list of excluded or banned persons.
No national self-exclusion register accessible to the public, and no dedicated national gambling helpline, were found at the time of review. The GDJ has said that protecting players is one of its four priorities, alongside securing the sector, fighting illegal practices and contributing to economic development (Focus Gaming News, September 2026). In September 2026 the board of the Association des Loteries d’Afrique approved the GDJ’s admission, subject to confirmation by the association’s general assembly announced for April 2027; Gabonreview reports that membership is expected to include exchanges on responsible gaming and anti-money-laundering practice.
Concern about young people’s gambling has been raised in the Gabonese press. In January 2022, Gabon Media Time described unemployed graduates, pupils and students turning to sports betting kiosks as a way to earn money, while noting that no statistical data were available. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Announcement of state takeover (18 December 2025). The Council of Ministers communiqué announced “la prochaine réappropriation par l’État du secteur des jeux de hasard via un opérateur public”, with revenue to be directed to social and educational policies (communiqué of 18 December 2025).
- Call for private operators (February to March 2026). The GDJ invited applications from private operators until 2 March 2026; earlier permissions entered an expiry phase on 7 April 2026, with regularisation due by 7 July 2026.
- Ratification and launch (April to August 2026). The ratification bill went before the National Assembly on 29 April 2026 and the Senate committee on 10 June 2026. The GDJ’s first board meeting, held in Libreville in early August 2026, was convened to examine its strategic plan, its operating and investment budget and the board’s internal rules (Gabonreview, 10 August 2026).
- Pending. At the time of review, the list of selected private operators, licence fees, the full texts of the 2025 ordinances and the number of the ratification law had not been published in sources available online.
Casino listings for players in Gabon
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator is authorised in Gabon, where gambling is now organised under a state monopoly held by La Gabonaise des Jeux and private operators may work only under its supervision. No public register of authorised operators was found; the listings must not be read as an indication that a given operator is lawful in Gabon.
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Sources and further reading
- République gabonaise, Journal officiel, Loi n° 040/2020 du 18 février 2021 portant ratification de l’ordonnance n°0012/PR/2020 du 14 août 2020 portant réglementation des jeux de divertissement, d’argent et de hasard en République Gabonaise (2021; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabon Media Time, Gabon : communiqué final du Conseil des ministres du 29 décembre 2025 (2025; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabon Media Time, Gabon : communiqué final du Conseil des ministres du 18 décembre 2025 (2025; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabon Media Time, Gabon : création d’une commission des jeux de divertissement, d’argent et de hasard (2021; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Jeux de hasard : Lambert Noel Matha ouvre le secteur à la concurrence (2022; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Gabon : 72 heures aux promoteurs des jeux de hasard pour se mettre en règle (2025; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Jeux de hasard : Au Gabon, l’État reprend la main (2025; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabon Media Time, Gabon : le gouvernement reprend la main sur les jeux de hasard (2025; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Jeux de hasard non-conformes à la loi : des sanctions dès le 1er octobre (2025; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Sika Finance, Gabon : l’État va se réapproprier le secteur des jeux de hasard via un opérateur public (2025; accessed 13 October 2026).
- EcoMatin, Gabon : l’État crée un opérateur public des jeux pour mieux contrôler un marché de plus de 3 milliards FCFA (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Jeux d’argent au Gabon : la GDJ lance un appel à manifestation d’intérêt pour l’attribution de licences (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabon Media Time, Jeux d’argent : la GDJ lance un appel à manifestation d’intérêt et reprend la main sur le secteur (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Gabonaise des Jeux : le gouvernement défend sa création devant les députés (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Réforme du secteur des jeux au Gabon : les projets de loi cochent une nouvelle case au Sénat (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Jeux d’argent : la Gabonaise des jeux lance officiellement ses activités (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Jeux de hasard : 13,8 milliards sur la table, l’État abat-il ses cartes ? (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabonreview, Jeux de hasard : la GDJ rejoint le réseau des loteries africaines (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Focus Gaming News, Gabon’s state gaming operator sets four key priorities (2026; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Gabon Media Time, Gabon : privée d’emplois, la jeunesse mise sur les paris sportifs (2022; accessed 13 October 2026).
- Wikipedia, 2025 Gabonese presidential election (accessed 13 October 2026).
