Legal casino gambling age in Madagascar
Madagascar permits gambling through an authorisation system administered by the State, but the rules are old, incomplete and, in the online sector, largely untested. The core legislation dates from the early 1970s. Casinos and gaming establishments obtain their authorisation to open and operate by declaring their activity to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior and Decentralisation, while anti-money-laundering supervision of casinos sits with a specialised police service. There is no specific statutory framework for online gambling, and local commentators describe the online betting market as a regulatory “grey zone”. A comprehensive reform, Bill No. 019/2026 on the regulation of gambling activities and gaming establishments, was filed with the National Assembly on 16 June 2026 and, on the latest official information we found, has not been adopted. This guide sets out what the sources show, and flags clearly where the position could not be verified.
Key points
- Gambling is governed mainly by Law No. 71-011 of 30 June 1971 and its implementing texts, supplemented by a decree of 5 February 2026 (Decree No. 2026-472), according to trade press reports of the 2026 bill.
- Under the 2018 anti-money-laundering law, a casino or gaming establishment must file a declaration of activity with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior in order to obtain an opening and operating authorisation.
- There is no dedicated licence for online gambling under current law. In 2016 the government suspended new gaming-house authorisations and the operation of online casinos pending reform.
- Bill No. 019/2026, filed on 16 June 2026, would create licence categories including online gambling, set a minimum age of 21 and require online operators to connect to a State monitoring platform. The National Assembly’s register still lists it only as filed, and official session records do not show its adoption, although some trade reports have said otherwise.
- No national self-exclusion register or dedicated gambling helpline could be identified.
Last reviewed: 8 October 2026.
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Historical development
Madagascar’s gambling law is built on administrative authorisation: games of chance for money may be operated only with permission from the State. The basic statute is Law No. 71-011 of 30 June 1971, whose conflicting provisions the 2026 reform bill would repeal (the law is known to us only from this report; its text was not seen) (SiGMA, reporting on Bill No. 019/2026). The trade publication iGaming Expert summarises this as gambling having been “legalised” in 1971 (iGaming Expert, 2026), which is best understood as the creation of an authorisation regime rather than a general liberalisation. Some of the implementing texts are of a similar age: in 2016 an official of the Ministry of the Interior told the newspaper L’Express de Madagascar that the texts then in force dated from 1972.
That 2016 statement came after a decision of the Council of Government on 28 June 2016. As reported by L’Express de Madagascar, the government temporarily suspended, nationwide, the issue of authorisations to create new gaming houses (maisons de jeux) and the operation of online casinos. The Ministry explained that the existing texts did not cover new types of games and that the law needed to be updated to allow proper control. It indicated that existing operators might be asked to regularise their position once Parliament adopted new legislation, and that a bill was expected in the October 2016 parliamentary session. We found no evidence that such a bill was enacted at that time.
Over the following decade the market changed considerably, mainly through sports betting and other games offered over mobile phones and mobile-money services, but the legislation did not keep pace. iGaming Expert reports that from 2022 licences began to be offered to land-based casinos for electronic games; we could not confirm this from an official source. Since late 2025 the country has been in a period of political transition, described as the “Refondation de la République”, led by Colonel Michael Randrianirina (Midi Madagasikara, 2025). Gambling reform was taken up in that context: according to the trade press, a decree regulating gambling and gaming establishments was issued on 5 February 2026, and a comprehensive bill followed in June 2026 (Focus Gaming News, 2026).
Legal framework
The legal framework is fragmented. No consolidated, official online version of the 1971 law could be located, and the sources reviewed for this guide refer to it only by number and date. Readers should therefore treat the description below as an outline of the instruments that are known to apply, not as a complete statement of the law.
Gambling legislation
- Law No. 71-011 of 30 June 1971, the principal statute on games of chance, identified by SiGMA among the texts whose conflicting provisions Bill No. 019/2026 would repeal. Its text was not available to us.
- Implementing texts said by the Ministry of the Interior in 2016 to date from 1972 (L’Express de Madagascar).
- Decree No. 2026-472 of 5 February 2026 regulating gambling and gaming establishments. Its text was not available to us; its existence and date are reported by Focus Gaming News and SiGMA, which report that the 2026 bill would repeal its conflicting provisions.
Anti-money-laundering law
The most accessible primary text that regulates casinos directly is Law No. 2018-043 on combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism, adopted by the Senate on 28 December 2018 and by the National Assembly on 31 December 2018. Article 21 imposes specific duties on casinos and gaming establishments. Before starting operations they must file a declaration of activity with the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of the Interior in order to obtain an authorisation to open and operate, justifying the lawful origin of the funds used to set up the business. They must keep regular accounts for at least five years, verify with an official photographic document the identity of players who buy, bring or exchange chips or plaques worth more than 3 million ariary, and record those transactions and any transfers of funds between casinos in bound registers. Where one company runs several gaming subsidiaries, chips must identify the issuing subsidiary and cannot be redeemed at another.
Implementing rules were updated by Decree No. 2024-1352, which is cited as part of the legal basis for sector guidance issued in June 2026 (SCCJ guidelines for casinos, 2026).
Tax legislation
The General Tax Code (2024 edition) refers to gaming establishments in its accounting provisions and lists separate titles on an annual tax on automatic machines and a tax on radio and television games (jeux radiotélévisés). Its treatment of gambling is described in the taxation section below.
Regulator and licensing model
Madagascar does not have an independent gambling regulator. Responsibility is divided between ministries and a police service:
- Ministry of the Interior and Decentralisation. Receives, with the Ministry of Finance, the declaration of activity through which a casino or gaming establishment obtains its authorisation to open and operate (Law No. 2018-043, Article 21). The 2016 suspension of new authorisations was announced by this ministry, and according to SiGMA and Focus Gaming News the 2026 bill would make it the body that regulates, supervises and authorises gambling.
- Ministry of Finance. Also receives the declaration of activity (Article 21) and, according to the regional anti-money-laundering body ESAAMLG, monitors casinos’ compliance with anti-money-laundering requirements, including their reporting of directors, shareholders and beneficial owners (ESAAMLG follow-up report, April 2025).
- Service Central des Courses et Jeux (SCCJ). A unit within the police intelligence directorate (Direction des Services de Renseignements), which acts as anti-money-laundering supervisor of casinos and gaming establishments. In June 2026 it issued guidelines setting out a risk-based approach using document reviews, on-site inspections and compliance questionnaires (SCCJ guidelines). ESAAMLG similarly describes a unit of the National Police under the Ministry of the Interior as supervising casino and gaming activities.
- SAMIFIN, the financial intelligence unit, receives suspicious transaction reports from casinos and has issued a directive for casinos and gambling houses (ESAAMLG).
The model is therefore one of discretionary administrative authorisation: there is no published list of licence classes, fees or licensees, and no public register of authorised operators could be found. The number of authorised land-based casinos is not published in any official source we found. The SCCJ guidelines apply to physical casinos, slot-machine rooms and any establishment offering games of chance for money.
International assessments have identified weaknesses. ESAAMLG’s 2018 mutual evaluation found that supervision did not extend to gaming institutions’ anti-money-laundering compliance. In its April 2025 follow-up, ESAAMLG kept Madagascar’s rating at “partially compliant” with the relevant standard (FATF Recommendation 28), because risk-based supervision of these sectors was not yet established (ESAAMLG follow-up report; see also the FATF summary of the 2025 follow-up report).
Information on the national lottery, including the identity and legal status of any operator, could not be verified from an official source.
Online gambling and enforcement
Current law contains no dedicated licensing route for online casinos or online betting. The 2016 suspension expressly covered “the operation of online casinos” across the country (L’Express de Madagascar), and we found no official act lifting it. At the same time, online betting is widely available and heavily used, especially on mobile phones. In December 2025 the daily Midi Madagasikara described the sector as a “grey zone” marked by a de facto monopoly, opacity and near-impunity (Midi Madagasikara via AllAfrica, 30 December 2025). The article reported that one unnamed operator held a dominant position in online betting, that licences appeared to have been concentrated in few hands on unclear criteria, and that the State collected much less tax than the sector could generate. It called for an independent regulator, transparent licensing criteria and monitoring of financial flows. These are journalistic findings and allegations, not official determinations.
We found no evidence of a list of blocked gambling websites, of directions to internet service providers to block offshore operators (ISP blocking), or of instructions to banks or mobile-money providers to refuse payments to them (payment blocking). Nor did we find specific rules on gambling advertising under current law. The government’s own explanatory statement for the 2026 bill, as summarised by Focus Gaming News, acknowledges that some gambling activities escape oversight because of “their clandestine nature or their online character”.
The 2026 bill would change this substantially. According to trade press reports of the bill (Focus Gaming News; SiGMA; iGaming Today):
- online and network-based gambling would form its own licence category (Category 4), with sports betting, animal betting, lotteries and scratch cards in Category 3 (the reports reviewed do not describe the other categories);
- authorisations would be individual, time-limited, revocable and non-transferable, with separate authorisation for each type of game;
- online operators would have to host servers in Madagascar and meet requirements on player access, protection of minors, data protection and technical standards;
- all authorised online operators would have to connect to a national monitoring platform under the Ministry of the Interior, whose data would belong to the State and whose design and operation, according to SiGMA, could be contracted to a single private provider under an agreement approved by the Interior and Finance ministries;
- unauthorised gambling, unlicensed venues and unapproved equipment would be punishable by one to five years’ imprisonment and fines of 10 million to 50 million ariary; advertising unauthorised gambling by fines of 10 million to 30 million ariary; and failure to connect to the platform by three months to three years’ imprisonment (SiGMA; iGaming Today).
These descriptions come from secondary reports. The official text on the National Assembly website is published as a downloadable Malagasy-language file that we could not read in full, so the details should be checked against the adopted text if and when it is passed.
Position of players
None of the sources reviewed identifies an offence committed by a player who gambles with an unauthorised operator, whether in Madagascar or online from abroad, and we found no reports of players being prosecuted or fined for doing so. Current enforcement, such as it is, is directed at operators. The penalties in the 2026 bill, as reported, also target those who organise, host or advertise unauthorised gambling and those who fail to meet operator obligations, rather than participants. This should not be read as a statement that playing on unauthorised sites is lawful: such sites operate outside any Malagasy authorisation, so players have no local regulator to complain to and no assurance that winnings will be paid or that funds are protected.
The minimum gambling age under the current texts could not be verified. The 2026 bill would set it at 21 and require operators to check age and legal capacity before play.
Taxation
The tax treatment of gambling is only partly visible in accessible sources. The General Tax Code (2024 edition) provides that gaming clubs and gaming houses (cercles et maisons de jeux) subject to income tax must keep separate accounts for their gaming activities, in a form to be set by decree (Article 01.01.20). This suggests that gaming operators are taxed on their profits under the ordinary income-tax rules, although the copy of the Code available to us does not say so expressly. The Code also contains a title on an annual tax on automatic machines and a title on a tax on radio and television games; the copy available to us did not include the text of those titles, so rates and scope could not be confirmed.
We found no provision specifically taxing gross gaming revenue (GGR, meaning stakes received minus winnings paid out) and no rule on the taxation of players’ winnings. The press criticism that the State captures little revenue from online betting (Midi Madagasikara, 2025) suggests that the fiscal framework for the online sector is weak. According to the trade press, the 2026 bill does not itself set tax rates, although the monitoring platform would be used to track taxes and fees due. Readers with questions about specific winnings should consult the Directorate General of Taxes.
Consumer protection and responsible gambling
Consumer protection is the least developed part of the framework. We could not identify a national self-exclusion register, a statutory duty on operators to offer deposit or time limits, or a dedicated public helpline for problem gambling. The safeguards that do exist under current law are mainly anti-money-laundering controls: identity checks above 3 million ariary, record-keeping and suspicious transaction reporting (Law No. 2018-043; SCCJ guidelines).
The 2026 bill, as reported, would introduce the first general player-protection rules:
- a minimum age of 21, with age and capacity verification;
- mandatory self-exclusion tools and limits on deposits, stakes and playing time;
- a ban on gambling on credit, including lending by operators and lending between players, and a ban on online platforms advertising or linking to lending services;
- closure of unauthorised venues, including those close to schools, religious sites or health facilities;
- a corrective procedure for operators breaching player-protection rules: one month to remedy the breach, then a three-month suspension and, failing compliance, revocation, with immediate revocation for anti-money-laundering breaches (iGaming Today).
People concerned about their own or a relative’s gambling may need to rely on general health services until specialised support is established. General guidance is available in our responsible gambling guide.
Recent and upcoming developments
- Press scrutiny (December 2025). Midi Madagasikara called for urgent regulation of online gaming, alleging a de facto monopoly and weak tax collection.
- Decree No. 2026-472 (5 February 2026). A decree regulating gambling and gaming establishments was issued, as reported by Focus Gaming News and SiGMA.
- Bill No. 019/2026 (June 2026). The bill is dated 2 June 2026 and was submitted to Parliament by Decree No. 2026-1445 of 3 June 2026, with the Minister of the Interior and Decentralisation charged with presenting it (Focus Gaming News). The National Assembly’s record of the bill shows its official filing on 16 June 2026 and no later stage.
- Second extraordinary session (25 August to early September 2026). Focus Gaming News reported the bill among the seven on the agenda of the session opened on 25 August 2026. The National Assembly confirmed seven bills on the agenda and, on closing the session on 4 September 2026, reported that two were adopted and five deferred to a later session. The closing statement did not name the two adopted bills and did not mention Bill No. 019/2026.
- Third extraordinary session (September 2026). The agenda for 24 to 28 September 2026 did not include Bill No. 019/2026, and the session was listed to close on 28 September.
- Conflicting trade reports. iGaming Today (1 September 2026) stated that the bill had been adopted by the National Assembly at its second extraordinary session but had not yet been passed into law; iGaming Expert (4 September 2026) described it as “pending presidential consent”. By contrast, Focus Gaming News (1 September 2026) described it as a draft that had not become law, and SiGMA (3 September 2026) reported that it remained under parliamentary consideration. The official sources reviewed do not support the reports of adoption: the National Assembly’s register, accessed on 8 October 2026, still lists the bill as Dépôt officiel (officially filed), with no later stage. As the register is the only official status record we found, readers should confirm the current position with the National Assembly. According to iGaming Today, once the law is adopted existing operators would have one year to comply, including renewing their licences with the Ministry of the Interior.
- Anti-money-laundering supervision. In June 2026 the SCCJ issued risk-based guidelines for casinos, responding to the supervisory gaps identified by ESAAMLG.
Casino listings for players in Madagascar
The listings below are generated automatically from our casino database. They do not show that an operator holds any authorisation in Madagascar. Malagasy law currently provides no licence for online casinos, the 2016 suspension of online casino operation has not been shown to have been lifted, and no public register of authorised operators is available. The listings must not be read as an indication that offering or playing online casino games in Madagascar is lawful. Readers should follow the progress of Bill No. 019/2026 on the National Assembly website.
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Sources and further reading
- National Assembly of Madagascar, Projet de loi n° 019/2026 du 02 juin 2026 portant réglementation des activités liées aux jeux d’argent et des établissements de jeux (accessed 8 October 2026).
- National Assembly of Madagascar, Textes: list of bills filed in 2026 (accessed 8 October 2026).
- National Assembly of Madagascar, Deuxième session extraordinaire 2026: sept projets de loi à l’examen de l’Assemblée nationale (25 August 2026).
- National Assembly of Madagascar, Clôture de la deuxième session extraordinaire: le travail parlementaire se poursuit (4 September 2026).
- National Assembly of Madagascar, Ordre du jour pour la période du 24 au 28 septembre 2026 (2026).
- Republic of Madagascar, Loi n° 2018-043 sur la lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux et le financement du terrorisme (2018).
- Service Central des Courses et Jeux, Lignes directrices pour les casinos et établissements de jeux (June 2026).
- Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, Madagascar: 12th Enhanced Follow-Up Report and Technical Compliance Re-Rating (April 2025).
- Financial Action Task Force, Madagascar’s progress in strengthening measures to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing (2025).
- Republic of Madagascar, Code Général des Impôts 2024 (2024).
- L’Express de Madagascar, Administration: la création de maisons de jeux suspendue (29 June 2016).
- Rija R. (Midi Madagasikara, via AllAfrica), Madagascar: Jeux en ligne, l’urgente nécessité de la régulation (30 December 2025).
- Focus Gaming News, Madagascar Parliament advances major gambling regulation overhaul (2026).
- SiGMA, Madagascar gambling bill and online betting (2026).
- iGaming Today, New Madagascar bill creates national gambling framework, bans credit betting, sets age limit at 21 (September 2026).
- iGaming Expert, Madagascar set to overhaul iGaming industry (September 2026).
