Nigeria to Allow Offshore Betting Operators

This story was published more than 1 year ago.

The government of Nigeria announced that they're going to be introducing a new permit that'll allow for offshore gambling operators to provide casino games, poker, sportsbetting, bingo, and poker services to residents.

Those who get a permit to provide services in the country will have to pay $100,000 upfront and $50,000 for four years. Each permit would be good for five years. Gaming operators would have to hold a license in another country to show they meet some threshold. Additional terms would be mandatory, which will be dictated by the Nigerian National Lottery Regulatory Commission.

Nigeria is seeing online usage growing exponentially, expanding the number of potential customers. It's unknown who will work in the market, but it's likely there'll be some big-name names in the country, which has a population of 211 million.

"The world is entering a challenging time where there is a strong obligation on Governments to increase tax revenue as a percentage of GDP so as to provide much-needed funding for local infrastructure and public services," said Federal Inland Revenue Service of Nigeria Executive Chairman Mohammad Nami. "Nigeria needs to innovate and harness technology to ensure that online transactions are taxed and accounted for."

"We have been very impressed with the Sentinal System which allows us to not only collect tax revenues at source, but also provides us with tax reporting and monitoring tools in real-time. The system will integrate with our own TaxPro Max portal."

National Lottery Regulatory Commission of Nigeria Director General Lanre Gbajabiamila added: "Online gaming continues to grow rapidly in Nigeria, particularly on mobile, and the adoption of E-Technologies' Sentinal National Payment Gateway is a huge step to allow us to capture gaming duty at source.

"We are welcoming all responsible offshore gaming operators to apply for a Remote Operator Permit as long as they pass all the relevant criteria including full AML screening and responsible gaming practices.

"We are proud to be the first country to adopt the Sentinal System and we believe it will bring a real national benefit to Nigeria."

About the author

Kingston Li // Asia Correspondent
Kingston Li
Kingston is a big fan of Baccarat and Texas Hold'em Poker and has tested his skills in tournaments around Asia and the world. He covers the latest gambling news from Asia for Casino Listings. In his spare time, Kingston enjoys hiking, video gaming, and playing disc golf.