Is online sports betting legal in the DRC?

Only within the State monopoly. Ministerial Order 037/2022 makes all gambling, including online, a State monopoly exercised by SONAL or by private companies holding a Finance Minister agrément and a partnership contract with SONAL.

Who regulates gambling in the DRC?

The Ministry of Finance, through its Direction de la réglementation financière, with SONAL giving an opinion on agrément applications. An independent regulator is proposed in a bill before Parliament.

What are the conditions for an agrément?

A DRC-registered company that is not single-member, with at least 15% of capital held by Congolese natural persons, five years of activity, a local bank account, equipment certified by the Office congolais de contrôle, a WLA or ALA approved technical partner and a connection to the Finance Ministry's monitoring platform. Registration is renewed every year.

How is gambling taxed?

Finance Law No. 23/056 provides an annual authorisation tax and a monthly ad valorem tax on players' winnings, due by the 15th of the following month. The rates were not found in official sources.

A bill on the fundamental principles of the gambling sector, adopted by the Council of Ministers in April 2025, is before Parliament. The Finance Ministry is also rolling out a national supervision platform and ordered operators to identify themselves by 31 July 2026.

How much does a gambling licence cost in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?

For the Agrément (authorisation) to operate games of chance, lotteries and betting, with a SONAL partnership contract: Authorisation tax set by regulation of the minister responsible for the assessment service (art. 8, item 9); amount not found. Last verified 21 Oct 2026.

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Sovereign state

Africa

ISO CD

Democratic Republic of the Congo: gambling regulation and licensing

Online sports bettingMonopoly
Online casinoMonopoly
Online pokerMonopoly
Lottery and iLotteryMonopoly
Horse race bettingMonopoly
Land-based (reference)Monopoly

Regulator: Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Direction de la Réglementation Financière)
Headline tax: See Taxation
Licence required: Yes
Last verified: 21 Oct 2026

Summary

Gambling in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a State monopoly run under a ministerial order rather than a modern statute. Colonial texts from 1901, 1927 and 1951 prohibit games of chance, lotteries and prediction contests, and Ministerial Order 037/CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2022 of 25 November 2022 declares the whole sector, classic or online, a State monopoly. The monopoly is exercised directly by the Société nationale de loterie (SONAL), 60% owned by the State, or indirectly by private companies that obtain an agrément from the Finance Minister and sign a partnership contract with SONAL. Applicants must be DRC companies with at least 15% of capital held by Congolese nationals, five years of trading, a local bank account, certified equipment and a connection to the Finance Ministry's Central Monitoring System, and registration is renewed every year. The Finance Ministry is the de facto regulator through its Direction de la réglementation financière; there is no independent regulator yet. Finance Law No. 23/056 for 2024 introduced an annual authorisation tax and a monthly ad valorem tax on players' winnings, including online, but the rates were not found in official sources. Minors, defined in law as under-18s, are barred from gaming rooms. A bill on the fundamental principles of the gambling sector, adopted by the Council of Ministers in April 2025, is before Parliament; the government says it will create a regulator and taxes on winnings and gross gaming product. Meanwhile the Ministry is building a national supervision platform and told operators to identify themselves by 31 July 2026. The online status rests on a ministerial order, and the Finance Ministry itself reported in 2024 a multitude of illegal operators and no effective control of the sector, so it carries limited confidence.

Common pitfalls

Confusing the DRC with the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), which has its own lottery and rules. Treating a SONAL partnership as sufficient: the agrément is granted by the Finance Minister by ministerial order, and registration lapses without annual renewal. Assuming a regulator exists: the ARJA is planned in a bill still before Parliament.

Key facts

Regulator: Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Direction de la Réglementation Financière)
Regulator type: Government ministry
Headline tax: See Taxation
Licence required: Yes
Minimum age: 18+
Tax base: Finance Law No. 23/056, art. 46 provides two levies collected for the Finance Ministry: an annual tax on the authorisation to operate a gambling or lottery business, and an ad valorem tax on players' winnings, including winnings from games via telecommunications and ICT. The rates were not found in a source opened for this record. The April 2025 bill would add specific taxes on winnings and on gross gaming product.
Capital: Kinshasa
Currency: CDF
Official languages: French

How to get a gambling licence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Online casino and online sports betting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are state monopolies: only a single state-owned or designated operator is permitted.

The regulator is the Ministry of Finance of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Direction de la Réglementation Financière).

We record 1 licence type for the Democratic Republic of the Congo: the Agrément (authorisation) to operate games of chance, lotteries and betting, with a SONAL partnership contract.

Fee basis: Agrément (authorisation) to operate games of chance, lotteries and betting, with a SONAL partnership contract: Authorisation tax set by regulation of the minister responsible for the assessment service (art. 8, item 9); amount not found.
Licence term: Agrément (authorisation) to operate games of chance, lotteries and betting, with a SONAL partnership contract: Set in the partnership contract; registration must be renewed every year (art. 41)
Local presence: A local company or establishment is required.
Financial guarantee: A bank certificate showing financial capacity to cover the three-year business plan; all receipts and payments must go through an account with a credit institution established in the DRC (art. 8).

Built from the record on this page, last verified 21 Oct 2026. The Licensing and Taxation sections carry the full detail and sources.

Legal framework

Primary statutes

Ordinance-Law No. 11-141 of 1951 prohibiting sports prediction contests and others
Ordonnance-loi 11-141 du 16 mai 1951 portant interdiction des concours de pronostics sportifs et autres
Year
1951
In force
Yes
Summary
Colonial-era prohibition of prediction contests, cited with the Governor General's order of 19 January 1901 on games of chance and the decree of 17 August 1927 on lotteries as the legal basis for treating the sector as prohibited except as a State monopoly. Not opened directly; cited as quoted in Arrêté 037/2022, which dates it 6 May 1951 in its preamble and 16 May 1951 in art. 1.
Finance Law No. 23/056 of 10 December 2023 for the 2024 financial year, art. 46
Loi n° 23/056 du 10 décembre 2023 portant loi de finances pour l'exercice 2024
Year
2023
In force
Yes
Summary
Assigns to the Finance Ministry an annual tax on the authorisation to operate a gambling or lottery business and a monthly ad valorem tax on players' winnings, including from games operated through telecommunications and ICT, as reported by the State press agency from a Finance Ministry communiqué. The text was not opened directly.

Secondary instruments

Ministerial Order No. 037/CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2022 of 25 November 2022 amending Order CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2021/020 of 14 December 2021 on the agrément and registration of gambling operations
Arrêté ministériel n° 037/CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2022 du 25 novembre 2022 modifiant et complétant l'arrêté ministériel CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2021/020 du 14 décembre 2021 portant modalités pratiques d'agrément (autorisation) et d'enregistrement pour l'exploitation des jeux d'argent en République démocratique du Congo
Year
2022
In force
Yes
Summary
The operative rulebook. Declares gambling, classic or online, a State monopoly exercised directly by SONAL or through partnerships with agréé private companies (arts. 1 to 6); sets agrément conditions and the application file (arts. 7 and 8), the Finance Ministry and SONAL procedure (arts. 9 to 13), the classification of gaming establishments and lotteries (arts. 14 to 33), promotional tombolas (arts. 34 to 36), bans on gambling near schools and on minors in gaming rooms (arts. 37 and 38), and annual renewal of registration (art. 41). Published in the J.O.RDC special issue of 3 December 2022.
Law No. 09/001 of 10 January 2009 on the protection of the child, art. 2
Loi n° 09/001 du 10 janvier 2009 portant protection de l'enfant
Year
2009
In force
Yes
Summary
Defines a child as any person under eighteen (art. 2, point 1); cited in the preamble of Arrêté 037/2022, which bars minors from gaming rooms.

Key amendments

25 Nov 2022Arrêté 037/2022 amends the December 2021 agrément order, bringing online gambling expressly within the State monopoly and requiring operators to integrate the Finance Ministry's Central Monitoring System.

Pending legislation

Bill on the fundamental principles of the gambling sector in the DRC
Stage
Adopted by the Council of Ministers at its 39th meeting (April 2025) and sent to Parliament; still under examination in Parliament according to a Finance Ministry communiqué reported in July 2026.
What it changes
A statutory framework for operating games of chance, protection of minors and vulnerable players, and a common-law tax regime with specific taxes on winnings and gross gaming product. The Finance Minister has said it will create a regulator, reported as the Autorité de Régulation des Jeux d'Argent (ARJA), and a digital platform with a player account for every online player.

Licensing

Licence required: Yes
Application window: Not yet verified
Local establishment required: Yes
Local server required: Not yet verified
Bank guarantee or bond: A bank certificate showing financial capacity to cover the three-year business plan; all receipts and payments must go through an account with a credit institution established in the DRC (art. 8).
Notable licensees: Société nationale de loterie (SONAL)
Certification requirements: Slot machines and other gaming, lottery and betting equipment must be certified by the Office congolais de contrôle, and the applicant must have a technical partner approved by the World Lottery Association and the Association of African Lotteries (art. 8).
Barriers to entry: Applicants must be DRC-registered commercial companies, not single-member, with at least 15% of capital held by Congolese natural persons, five years of activity with satisfactory results, good-character directors with no convictions, premises not directly visible to the public, and integration into the Finance Ministry's gambling platform (art. 7). The application goes to the Finance Minister and to SONAL, whose board must give an opinion within 30 days; silence is a refusal (arts. 9 and 10).

Licence types

Agrément (authorisation) to operate games of chance, lotteries and betting, with a SONAL partnership contract
Scope
Permanent or occasional operation of games of chance, lotteries and bets of any kind, in the geographic area and game segments named in the agrément and the SONAL partnership contract (Arrêté 037/2022, arts. 7, 12 and 13)
Term
Set in the partnership contract; registration must be renewed every year (art. 41)
Fee basis
Authorisation tax set by regulation of the minister responsible for the assessment service (art. 8, item 9); amount not found
Renewal terms
Annual renewal of registration; failure to renew may lead to withdrawal of the agrément by ministerial order (arts. 41 and 42)

Taxation

Headline GGR tax: Not yet verified
Effective date: Not yet verified
Player winnings tax: An ad valorem tax on players' winnings applies under Finance Law No. 23/056, art. 46; rate not verified.
Withholding mechanism: The winnings tax is monthly and due by the 15th of the month after the winnings were paid; the authorisation tax is annual. Operators obtain a payment note from the Bureau de réglementation et de suivi des jeux de hasard et de loterie in the Direction de la réglementation financière. The modalities are set by Arrêté 024/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/2024 of 30 July 2024, which was not opened.
Tax base: Finance Law No. 23/056, art. 46 provides two levies collected for the Finance Ministry: an annual tax on the authorisation to operate a gambling or lottery business, and an ad valorem tax on players' winnings, including winnings from games via telecommunications and ICT. The rates were not found in a source opened for this record. The April 2025 bill would add specific taxes on winnings and on gross gaming product.

Scheduled changes

Specific taxes on winnings and on gross gaming product under the gambling bill adopted by the Council of Ministers in April 2025 from On enactment of the bill, which is before Parliament
Proposed

Compliance

Minimum age: 18+
National self-exclusion: Not yet verified
AML regime: Arrêté 037/2022 cites Law 04-016 of 19 July 2004 on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing. The Finance Ministry has tied the gambling reform to the DRC's IMF programme and its exit from the FATF list, citing the absence of control that favours money laundering.
Central monitoring system: Applicants must integrate the Finance Ministry's gambling platform, the Central Monitoring System (CMS) (Arrêté 037/2022, art. 7, item 11). The Ministry announced in May 2024 compliance criteria for electronic control of bets and the related mobile money payments, and in July 2026 a national regulation and supervision platform with a pilot phase ending on 30 August 2026.
KYC requirements: Not yet verified
Stake limits: Not yet verified
Reporting obligations: Special and commercial accounts kept available to Finance Ministry inspectors, and an annual activity report and next-year action programme sent to the Finance Minister (Arrêté 037/2022, art. 43).

Enforcement

ISP blocking: Not yet verified
DNS blocking: Not yet verified
Payment blocking: Not yet verified
App store takedowns: Not yet verified
Administrative penalties: Withdrawal of the agrément by ministerial order for breaches of the rules on schools, minors and inspections, or for issuing tombola tickets without authorisation (Arrêté 037/2022, arts. 40 and 42).
Operator liability: Withdrawal of the agrément is without prejudice to criminal prosecution (art. 40). The Finance Ministry gave operators without an agrément until 31 March 2026 to identify themselves and apply, and in July 2026 warned that operators not engaged with the national platform by 30 August 2026 would face administrative measures and sanctions.

Timeline

14 Dec 2021
Finance Ministry order CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2021/020 sets the agrément and registration procedure for gambling operations
25 Nov 2022
Arrêté 037/CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2022 declares gambling, including online, a State monopoly exercised by SONAL and agréé partners; published in the J.O.RDC on 3 December 2022
10 Dec 2023
Finance Law No. 23/056 for 2024 assigns the gambling authorisation tax and the ad valorem tax on winnings to the Finance Ministry
16 May 2024
Finance Ministry communiqué describes the reform of the gambling sector, citing illegal operators, money laundering risk and lost revenue
11 Apr 2025
Council of Ministers adopts the bill on the fundamental principles of the gambling sector
28 Apr 2025
SONAL launches an online sports betting website
10 Mar 2026
Finance Ministry reminds operators of their tax obligations and sets a 31 March 2026 deadline for unlicensed operators to apply for an agrément
Jun 2026
The FATF makes the initial determination that the DRC, under increased monitoring since its October 2022 commitment, has substantially completed its action plan, including designating supervisors for all non-financial business sectors, and warrants an on-site assessment before it can leave the list
10 Jul 2026
Finance Ministry orders all gambling operators to identify themselves by 31 July 2026 and sets the end of the supervision platform pilot at 30 August 2026

Outlook

Parliamentary passage of the gambling bill adopted by the Council of Ministers in April 2025, which would put the sector on a statutory footing, create a regulator and set specific taxes. The Finance Ministry's national supervision platform, whose pilot phase was due to end on 30 August 2026, and any sanctions against operators that did not connect to it.

Frequently asked questions

Is online sports betting legal in the DRC?: Only within the State monopoly. Ministerial Order 037/2022 makes all gambling, including online, a State monopoly exercised by SONAL or by private companies holding a Finance Minister agrément and a partnership contract with SONAL.
Who regulates gambling in the DRC?: The Ministry of Finance, through its Direction de la réglementation financière, with SONAL giving an opinion on agrément applications. An independent regulator is proposed in a bill before Parliament.
What are the conditions for an agrément?: A DRC-registered company that is not single-member, with at least 15% of capital held by Congolese natural persons, five years of activity, a local bank account, equipment certified by the Office congolais de contrôle, a WLA or ALA approved technical partner and a connection to the Finance Ministry's monitoring platform. Registration is renewed every year.
How is gambling taxed?: Finance Law No. 23/056 provides an annual authorisation tax and a monthly ad valorem tax on players' winnings, due by the 15th of the following month. The rates were not found in official sources.
What is changing?: A bill on the fundamental principles of the gambling sector, adopted by the Council of Ministers in April 2025, is before Parliament. The Finance Ministry is also rolling out a national supervision platform and ordered operators to identify themselves by 31 July 2026.
How much does a gambling licence cost in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?: For the Agrément (authorisation) to operate games of chance, lotteries and betting, with a SONAL partnership contract: Authorisation tax set by regulation of the minister responsible for the assessment service (art. 8, item 9); amount not found. Last verified 21 Oct 2026.

Glossary and directory

Glossary terms for this profile

Sources

Source tiers. Tier 1: the law, official gazette, licence register or regulator itself. Tier 2: other official sources such as ministries, parliaments, courts and statistics agencies. Tier 3: established trade press, used to find and date the primary source. Only tier 1 and tier 2 sources can support a fact on their own.

Ministerial Order No. 037/CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2022 of 25 November 2022 amending and supplementing Order CAB/MIN.FINANCES/2021/020 of 14 December 2021 on the agrément and registration of gambling operations (J.O.RDC, special issue, 3 December 2022, col. 1)
Journal officiel de la République démocratique du Congo (text reproduced by Droit congolais, droitcongolais.info) (translated)
Tier 1Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 3 Dec 2022
Law No. 09/001 of 10 January 2009 on the protection of the child (Journal officiel, special issue, 25 May 2009)
Journal officiel de la République démocratique du Congo (copy hosted by UC Berkeley School of Law) (translated)
Tier 1Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 25 May 2009
Communiqué No. 020/CAB/MIN/FINANCES/FIS/ST/2024: information on the reform of the games of chance sector and similar practices
Ministère des Finances de la République démocratique du Congo (translated)
The live PDF link returned 404 on 2026-10-15; the text was read from the archived copy.
Archived copy
Tier 2Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 16 May 2024
Communiqués (Finance Ministry listing, including the May 2024 gambling reform communiqué)
Ministère des Finances de la République démocratique du Congo (translated)
Tier 1Accessed 15 Oct 2026
DRC: adoption of a bill regulating gambling (Council of Ministers, 39th meeting)
Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) (translated)
State press agency dispatch reporting the official compte rendu of the 39th Council of Ministers; the compte rendu itself was not found on a government site.
Tier 2Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 14 Apr 2025
DRC: gambling operators reminded of their tax and regulatory obligations (Ministry of Finance)
Agence Congolaise de Presse (ACP) (translated)
State press agency report of a Finance Ministry communiqué signed by the Minister's chief of staff; the communiqué itself was not found on finances.gouv.cd.
Tier 2Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 10 Mar 2026
DRC: the Finance Ministry sets 30 August as the compliance deadline for gambling operators
Actualite.cd (translated)
Tier 3Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 10 Jul 2026
Gambling in the DRC: the supervision platform takes shape, unknowns remain
Bankable (translated)
Tier 3Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 14 Jul 2026
Online gambling in the DRC: the government plans a regulatory authority to raise revenue
DosEco (translated)
Tier 3Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 30 Sept 2025
DRC: SONAL launches its sports betting website
APIC-TV (translated)
Tier 3Accessed 15 Oct 2026Published 29 Apr 2025
Jurisdictions under increased monitoring, June 2026
Financial Action Task Force (FATF)
Tier 2Accessed 21 Oct 2026Published Jun 2026