--- title: "Côte d'Ivoire gambling licensing, cost and supervision | advennt.io" canonical: https://advennt.io/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/ source_html: /jurisdictions/ci/index.html description: "Côte d'Ivoire gambling regulation by game: 3 open · 3 restricted · 7 closed · 5 uncertain · 2 not yet assessed." generated_at: 2026-10-27T09:13:35Z content_sha256: d97602e9f072d9243eca95aa69609e1fb5a0899e04696b389256a3d8b812e460 generator: "fe-fleet/md-twin@1.0" --- # Côte d'Ivoire gambling licensing, cost and supervision | advennt.io [Jurisdictions](/jurisdictions/) › Côte d'Ivoire # Côte d'Ivoire National jurisdiction Côte d'Ivoire's gambling market is structured around a dual regime rather than an open licensing system. [3 open · 3 restricted · 7 closed · 5 uncertain · 2 not yet assessed → 20 classes](#products) Collected 25 Oct 2026 · Published 25 Oct 2026 · Changed 25 Oct 2026 [PDF](report.pdf) [Sign in for PDF](https://advennt.io/auth/) [Compare](/compare/?j=cote-d-ivoire) ## Can we offer our product? Every product class, in fixed taxonomy order. The band is what you can do; where the recorded legal status says something the band does not, it is shown beside the product. ### Player products - CasinoRRestricted - PokerRRestricted - BingoNot yet regulated?Uncertain - LotteryState monopolyXClosed - Sports bettingState monopolyXClosed - Other event bettingGrey zone · Contested?Uncertain - Horse and greyhound racing betting–Not yet assessed - Esports bettingGrey zone · Contested?Uncertain - Exchange bettingGrey zone · Contested?Uncertain - Pool bettingState monopoly · Models agreeXClosed - Virtual event betting–Not yet assessed - Fantasy sportsState monopolyXClosed - Skill gamesProhibited · ContestedXClosed - Prediction marketsProhibited · ContestedXClosed - SweepstakesProhibitedXClosed - Free playOutside the regulatory perimeter · ContestedOOpen ### Supply roles - Software / B2BOutside the regulatory perimeter · ContestedOOpen - Affiliate marketingOutside the regulatory perimeter · ContestedOOpen - Payments for gamblingRRestricted ### Settlement rail - Crypto gamblingNot yet regulated?Uncertain Class-level certainty is graded for 9 of 20 classes. ## Board briefing Côte d'Ivoire: state-concession model constrains open online market entry; land-based casino confined to premium hotel channel #### What has changed - Loi n°2020-480 (2020) replaced ~50-year-old instruments and created ARJH as an independent regulator with administrative-only sanction powers; corporate tax on gambling operators was raised to 30% in 2025. #### What to do now - Evaluate commercial partnership structures with LONACI (per the Sportcash/Sports4Africa precedent) as the only demonstrated route to lawful online sports betting distribution; do not assume a standalone B2C/B2B online licence exists. #### What to watch - ARJH secondary regulation on technical standards, any B2B licensing pathway development, and enforcement trend against the ~500 unauthorised foreign betting sites referenced in the legislative record. ## 11 answers, each dated and graded The weather grades favourability for an operator, not legality: legality is the product table above. The left rule is our confidence: solid confirmed, dashed probable, dotted uncertain. 01 · What kind of market is this? ### Overview Mixed Cote d'Ivoire operates a dual-regime gambling regulatory structure under Law No. 2020-480 of 27 May 2020. LONACI holds an exclusive state concession over sports betting, online gambling and lotteries, meaning private operators cannot enter these verticals directly. ARJH separately authorises land-ba… Full analysis · 127 words Cote d'Ivoire operates a dual-regime gambling regulatory structure under Law No. 2020-480 of 27 May 2020. LONACI holds an exclusive state concession over sports betting, online gambling and lotteries, meaning private operators cannot enter these verticals directly. ARJH separately authorises land-based casinos and slot-machine venues, the only segment genuinely open to private licensees. This cycle shows active enforcement tightening, with ARJH publicly seizing and destroying illegal slot machines, alongside a new 2026 Finance Law measure taxing foreign digital gambling platforms at an effective rate of approximately three percent of turnover. The structural licensing regime itself remains unchanged, but the enforcement and fiscal posture around it has moved materially, consistent with a state strategy to reinforce the LONACI monopoly and capture fiscal value from the offshore-serving grey market. - LONACI statutory concession/monopoly over most online games - No general B2C/B2B online licensing pathway independent of the LONACI concession identified - Casino/slot licensing confined to 4-star hotel premises Probable AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/overview/) 02 · Can we get a licence? ### Licensing and regulation Mixed Three licence classes are now confirmed under Côte d'Ivoire's gambling framework, all deriving from the 6 and 7 December 2023 Council of Ministers decrees implementing Law 2020-480. The LONACI concession covers jeux concédés — lotteries, sports betting, horse-race betting, and virtual betting — and … Full analysis · 164 words Three licence classes are now confirmed under Côte d'Ivoire's gambling framework, all deriving from the 6 and 7 December 2023 Council of Ministers decrees implementing Law 2020-480. The LONACI concession covers jeux concédés — lotteries, sports betting, horse-race betting, and virtual betting — and is held exclusively by LONACI, which is 85% state-owned. The ARJH authorisation regime covers promotional and charitable lotteries, and a separate ARJH licensing track covers casino gaming and slot machines. These decrees carry the durability of an implementing instrument under primary legislation, giving the licensing structure a reasonably durable statutory basis. Within this structure, authorisation-issuance, renewal, and withdrawal power for the ARJH track was transferred from joint ministerial control to ARJH's sole competence by the December 2023 decree, a change LONACI's leadership has publicly framed as strengthening the regime's capacity to act against illegal operators. This consolidation is itself set by decree rather than by the enabling Act, giving it a comparatively fragile durability relative to the underlying statutory framework. Probable AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/licensing/) 03 · How hard is entry, really? ### Market entry in practice Mixed Uncertain AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/market-entry/) 04 · What do the licences cost? ### Licence fees Mixed Uncertain AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/fees/) 05 · What is the tax take? ### Tax Mixed Probable AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/taxes/) 06 · Can we move player money? ### Payments and banking Mixed Probable AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/payments/) 07 · Can we advertise? ### Marketing Mixed Probable AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/marketing/) 08 · What must the platform meet? ### Technical compliance Mixed The defining technical-compliance development this cycle is the government's approval of a national digital platform for real-time monitoring of gambling transactions, introduced in October 2025. This fragile administrative instrument, rather than a durable statutory rule, creates a new integration … Full analysis · 120 words The defining technical-compliance development this cycle is the government's approval of a national digital platform for real-time monitoring of gambling transactions, introduced in October 2025. This fragile administrative instrument, rather than a durable statutory rule, creates a new integration obligation for operators, whose payment-processing systems must connect to the state platform to support real-time oversight of gambling-linked transaction flows. The mechanism carries accessory-liability implications under what is described as a National Gambling Monitoring Directive, tying mandatory technical integration directly to compliance standing. No published technical specification or certification standard was identified this cycle beyond the existence of the monitoring-platform obligation itself, and the practical compliance burden of integration, including timeline and format requirements, remains to be clarified in subsequent guidance. Uncertain AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/technical/) 09 · Can we ship through apps and platforms? ### Distribution and platforms Mixed The December 2023 implementing decrees under Law 2020-480 expressly prohibit operating an online betting site that has not been approved by LONACI or ARJH. This is a direct statutory prohibition rather than an implicit gap in the framework, and it applies to the online-distribution channel specifica… Full analysis · 137 words The December 2023 implementing decrees under Law 2020-480 expressly prohibit operating an online betting site that has not been approved by LONACI or ARJH. This is a direct statutory prohibition rather than an implicit gap in the framework, and it applies to the online-distribution channel specifically: an operator cannot legally run an online betting product in Côte d'Ivoire without first obtaining approval through one of the two established routes. Because the prohibition sits within the same decrees that establish the licensing structure itself, it carries the same durable statutory basis as the underlying licensing regime. For an operator, the practical effect is that there is no informal, unregulated, or offshore-adjacent online channel available even in principle; online distribution is locked to state-approved platforms only, a materially tighter position than existed before the decrees formalised the licensing structure. Uncertain AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/distribution/) 10 · How hard does the regulator enforce? ### Enforcement Mixed Enforcement in Cote d'Ivoire rests on the licensing-offence structure of Law No. 2020-480, under which operation outside the LONACI concession or an ARJH authorisation is itself unlawful, backed since April 2026 by a dedicated Council of Ministers-created surveillance unit. That decree gives sworn a… Full analysis · 185 words Enforcement in Cote d'Ivoire rests on the licensing-offence structure of Law No. 2020-480, under which operation outside the LONACI concession or an ARJH authorisation is itself unlawful, backed since April 2026 by a dedicated Council of Ministers-created surveillance unit. That decree gives sworn agents power to conduct unannounced audits and seize non-compliant equipment, acting jointly with the Economic and Financial Criminal Unit and the Criminal Asset Recovery Agency; the reporting behind it is T2-sourced press coverage of a Conseil des Ministres decree, not an independently retrieved primary decree text, so treat its precise scope as probable. This follows a demonstrated pattern: ARJH destroyed more than 110 unlicensed slot machines and their components in the Abidjan/Bingerville area in October 2025, evidencing physical seizure and destruction rather than administrative fines alone as the state's preferred remedy against grey-market equipment. The licence-revocation risk drivers for a licensed operator are the underlying statute's exclusivity terms and any equipment or activity found outside the concession or authorisation boundary; for an unlicensed operator, the risk is direct seizure and destruction under the demonstrated enforcement pattern, now reinforced by dedicated investigative capacity. Probable AI-generated 4 enforcement events [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/enforcement/) 11 · What is coming? ### Outlook Mixed Probable AI-generated [Read full analysis & tables →](/jurisdictions/cote-d-ivoire/outlook/) Evidential record & source register 0 enforcement · 2 red flags · 12 sources · Expand full record ## What gets operators fined 2 red flags (1 high, 1 medium) and 0 controls that address them. - highNo confirmed general B2B or multi-operator B2C online licensing pathway independent of LONACI concessionForeign operators without a LONACI partnership may have no lawful route to license online products.Source 10 · T3 - mediumGovernment's own legislative record cites ~500 unauthorised foreign betting sites and a large illicit lottery network operating at scaleSignals substantial unlicensed market competition and potential blocking/enforcement risk for non-partnered foreign brands.Source 9 · T2 ## What we looked for and could not find Confirmed absence is a finding of its own. These are the questions we searched and could not answer from a citable source, with the searches we ran. Never behind the paywall. Market opportunity. no credible T1/T2 GGR or total market-size figure located; only illicit-turnover figures from 2020 legislative debate available - searched: Côte d'Ivoire gambling market size GGR estimate - searched: LONACI annual revenue report - searched: ARJH marché des jeux rapport annuel - checked: lonaci.ci Competitive landscape. no named source for licensed operator count or unlicensed market share percentage - searched: ARJH liste opérateurs agréés Côte d'Ivoire - searched: nombre opérateurs jeux de hasard licenciés Côte d'Ivoire - searched: part de marché jeux illégaux Côte d'Ivoire - checked: centif.ci Entry pathways.b2b licensing. unable to determine definitively whether a standalone B2B software/platform licence pathway exists outside the LONACI concession/partnership model - searched: ARJH licence B2B fournisseur logiciel jeux - searched: Côte d'Ivoire B2B gaming software licence - searched: LONACI partenariat fournisseur technique agrément - checked: assnat.ci Player protection. no named source located for a formal self-exclusion scheme or deposit-limit regime under Loi n°2020-480 or ARJH secondary regulation - searched: ARJH auto-exclusion joueurs jeu responsable - searched: Côte d'Ivoire limite de dépôt jeux de hasard - searched: LONACI jeu responsable dispositif - checked: lonaci.ci Regulated activity classes. esports_betting and crypto_gambling status not addressed in any T1/T2 source located - searched: Côte d'Ivoire crypto gambling regulation - searched: Côte d'Ivoire esports betting law ARJH - searched: paris esports Côte d'Ivoire réglementation - checked: assnat.ci ## Source register Every source on a four-step tier scale. A claim is never shown at a stronger tier than the source it cites. 12 sources · 7 tier 1 · 2 tier 2 · 3 tier 3 No. Source Tier Verification 1 CI-LAW-2020-480 T1 of 4 Source 1 · Open in drawer → 2 CI-LAW-70-208 T1 of 4 Source 2 · Open in drawer → 3 CI-LAW-70-575 T1 of 4 Source 3 · Open in drawer → 4 CI-DECREE-98-371 T1 of 4 Source 4 · Open in drawer → 5 CI-CENTIF-GUIDE-CASINOS-2025 T1 of 4 Source 5 · Open in drawer → 6 CI-MINFIN-ASSNAT-VOTE T1 of 4 Source 6 · Open in drawer → 7 CI-MINFIN-SENAT-VOTE T1 of 4 Source 7 · Open in drawer → 8 CI-LONACI-OFFICIAL T2 of 4 Source 8 · Open in drawer → 9 CI-ECOFIN-ARJH-2020 T2 of 4 Source 9 · Open in drawer → 10 CI-CMS-EXPERT-GUIDE T3 of 4 Source 10 · Open in drawer → 11 CI-AIP-ARJH-2024 T3 of 4 Source 11 · Open in drawer → 12 CI-LEGALPILOT-GUIDE T3 of 4 Source 12 · Open in drawer →