Kenya: gambling regulation and licensing

Kenya has just rebuilt its gambling regime from the ground up. The Gambling Control Act, 2025 was assented to on 7 August 2025, commenced on 26 August 2025, repealed the 1966 Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act and replaced the Betting Control and Licensing Board with a new Gambling Regulatory Authority. Online gambling is a named licence class covering bookmakers, lotteries and casinos, licences run for thirty-six months, at least thirty per cent of an operator must be held by Kenyan citizens, foreign operators must register locally with a physical address, and broadcast advertising is banned between six in the morning and ten at night except during live sport. Tax is heavy and layered: 15 per cent of gross gaming revenue, 20 per cent withholding on winnings, and since 1 July 2025 a 5 per cent excise charged on player deposits rather than on stakes. The excise on deposits rather than stakes is the detail that changes operator economics most, because it taxes money entering the account whether or not it is ever wagered. Combined with the local ownership threshold, Kenya is now a demanding market to enter as well as an expensive one to run.

Regulator

Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya (GRA)

Regulator type

Dedicated regulator

Headline tax

15% GGR

Licence required

Yes

Minimum age

18+

Tax base

Betting tax is 15 per cent of the revenue generated from betting, that is gross gaming revenue. Gaming is taxed at 15 per cent and lottery tax at 15 per cent of lottery turnover. All three are remitted by the 20th day of the month following collection, with a 5 per cent penalty and 1 per cent monthly late-payment interest. Excise duty was restructured by the Finance Act 2025 with effect from 1 July 2025 and now falls on deposits rather than stakes: 5 per cent of the amount deposited into a customer betting wallet, 5 per cent of the amount deposited into a gaming wallet, 5 per cent of the amount paid to enter a prize competition and 5 per cent of the price of a lottery ticket, each cut from 15 per cent. Withholding tax on gross winnings is 20 per cent.

Capital

Nairobi

Currency

KES

Official languages

English, Swahili

Licence required

Yes

Application window

Closed

Local establishment required

Yes

Local server required

Not yet verified

Bank guarantee or bond

Third Schedule security deposits reported at 100,000,000 shillings for online gambling, 100,000,000 shillings for the national lottery, 20,000,000 shillings for casinos and other non-online gambling, and 200,000 shillings for amusement with prizes.

Barriers to entry

Three things bite at once. At least thirty per cent Kenyan shareholding is a statutory condition of licensing. A national licence does not remove the need for a county trade permit for premises. And the licensing window itself is shut: the Betting Control and Licensing Board suspended annual applications, new and renewal, by notice of 2 October 2025, with the handover to the Gambling Regulatory Authority expected to complete by the end of February 2026 and the substantive regulations still being written.

Headline GGR tax

15% GGR

Effective date

1 Jul 2025

Player winnings tax

Withholding tax of 20 per cent on gross winnings, deducted by the operator.

Tax base

Betting tax is 15 per cent of the revenue generated from betting, that is gross gaming revenue. Gaming is taxed at 15 per cent and lottery tax at 15 per cent of lottery turnover. All three are remitted by the 20th day of the month following collection, with a 5 per cent penalty and 1 per cent monthly late-payment interest. Excise duty was restructured by the Finance Act 2025 with effect from 1 July 2025 and now falls on deposits rather than stakes: 5 per cent of the amount deposited into a customer betting wallet, 5 per cent of the amount deposited into a gaming wallet, 5 per cent of the amount paid to enter a prize competition and 5 per cent of the price of a lottery ticket, each cut from 15 per cent. Withholding tax on gross winnings is 20 per cent.

Minimum age

18+

National self-exclusion

Not yet verified

Data localisation

Section 68(6) requires an operator to provide the particulars and the location of the servers of its system and to maintain a customer care centre within Kenya. The Act does not on its face require the servers themselves to sit in Kenya.

KYC requirements

The Gambling Control Act, 2025 does not state one universal gambling age in a single section. Section 84(3) bars a person under eighteen from playing an amusement machine except in the presence and with the permission of a parent or guardian, and section 72(2) requires operators to ensure that a child is not registered for an online game, lottery or bet. A child is a person under eighteen in Kenyan law, which is the basis for the 18 recorded here.

Stake limits

Not yet verified

Advertising permitted

Yes

Watershed

Broadcast advertising is barred between 06:00 and 22:00 except during a live sporting event

Mandatory warnings

Advertisements must indicate the addictive nature of gambling and notify players to play responsibly.

The near-term story is the handover itself. Annual licence applications, new and renewal, were suspended by a Betting Control and Licensing Board notice of 2 October 2025, existing licensees run on their old terms until expiry, and the transition was targeted to complete by the end of February 2026. Until the Gambling Regulatory Authority publishes its regulations, licence procedure, fees and compliance standards are unsettled. On tax, Kenyan gambling rates have moved almost every year, so treat any figure older than one budget cycle as stale.

Who regulates gambling in Kenya?

The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya, established by the Gambling Control Act, 2025, which replaces the Betting Control and Licensing Board. The handover was scheduled to complete by the end of February 2026.

How is online gambling taxed in Kenya?

Betting tax is 15 per cent of gross gaming revenue, withholding tax on winnings is 20 per cent, and since 1 July 2025 excise duty is 5 per cent of the amount a customer deposits into a betting or gaming wallet rather than a charge on stakes.

1. Gambling Control Act, 2025 (Act No. 14 of 2025)

   Kenya Law (National Council for Law Reporting)

   The Kenya Law record gives assent on 7 August 2025 and commencement on 26 August 2025. Secondary reporting circulating at review variously gave assent in August 2025 with commencement on 16 August 2025, and enactment on 20 August 2025. The Kenya Law dates are preferred.

   Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026
2. Betting, gaming and lottery tax

   Kenya Revenue Authority

   Kenyan gambling taxation has changed repeatedly. Secondary reporting circulating at review described the 20 per cent withholding tax on winnings as removed and then reinstated by a later finance bill. The KRA guidance read on 4 August 2026 still states 20 per cent, and that reading is preferred here.

   Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026
3. Adjustment of excise duty rates for excisable goods and services by the Finance Act, 2025

   Kenya Revenue Authority

   Tier 1Accessed 4 Aug 2026
4. Regulatory alert: enactment of the Gambling Control Act 2025

   CM Advocates LLP

   Tier 3Accessed 4 Aug 2026
5. Transition from the Betting Control and Licensing Board to the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya

   CM Advocates LLP

   Tier 3Accessed 4 Aug 2026