Botswana: gambling regulation and licensing

Botswana is regulated by the Gambling Authority, which operates under the tagline Motshameko O Phepha and publishes separate registers of its bookmaker and betting licensees and its casino licensees. It runs an online application process, licences a promotional competitions category, and administers a Gambling Fund whose disbursements it publishes. Its responsible gambling work is more developed than the size of the market would suggest. The authority publishes an exclusions process and uses the Problem Gambling Severity Index as a screening instrument, which is a recognised research tool rather than a generic advisory page, and it funds a postgraduate scholarship programme. It has also published a privacy notice under the Data Protection Act 2024, so the jurisdiction has a modern data regime that a licensee would need to work within. This profile records the authority and its published licensing categories, and leaves the substantive detail as honest gaps. Vertical status beyond bookmaking, betting and casino licensing, fees, tax treatment, advertising rules and compliance obligations have not yet been verified against primary sources. The position on remote gambling is not asserted, and the presence of licensed bookmakers should not be read as establishing what may lawfully be offered online.

Regulator

Gambling Authority

Regulator type

Dedicated regulator

Headline tax

Not yet verified

Licence required

Not yet verified

Minimum age

Not yet verified

Tax base

Not yet verified

Advertising permitted

Not yet verified

Affiliate rules

Affiliates are not separately licensed. Only operators holding a licence from the national regulator may lawfully be promoted.

Penalties for breach

The Gambling Authority supervises licensees and can act against the licence.

1. Gambling Authority

   Government of Botswana

   Tier 1Accessed 27 Aug 2026
2. Gambling Authority of Botswana

   Gambling Authority

   Tier 1Accessed 29 Aug 2026