Ethiopia spent most of 2026 with no legal sports betting market at all — a situation with few parallels elsewhere in Africa. Every operating licence in the country was revoked at once in December 2025 after a tax and commission shortfall of roughly Br27.5 billion came to light, and more than ten months later, regulators are still working out the rules for letting the sector back in. This is what actually happened, what the 2026 tax framework looks like on paper, and where the relaunch stands right now.
Is betting legal in Ethiopia right now, in 2026?
No. Since December 15, 2025, when the Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS) revoked the operating licences of every sports betting company in the country, no operator has held a valid licence to take bets. As of the most recent reporting, that remains the case: state-run lotteries are unaffected, but commercial sports betting — online or in shops — has no licensed path in Ethiopia.
Why were all Ethiopian betting licences revoked in December 2025?
The revocation came in two stages, following an investigation into financial and regulatory breaches across the industry.
- December 4, 2025 — ELS suspended 22 operators pending investigation.
- December 15, 2025 — ELS revoked the operating licences of every remaining sports betting company, ordered an immediate halt to online and physical wagering, and directed banks and payment providers to block betting-related transactions, as reported by Addis Insight.
- The crackdown involved Ethiopia’s National Intelligence and Security Service, the Financial Security Service and federal police, and led to the arrest of several company owners over suspected concealment of more than Br100 billion in unreported revenue and taxes.
What did the Br27.5 billion audit find?
A draft government audit, covering the period from when operators were first licensed in mid-2022/2023 through the December 2025 shutdown, put numbers behind the scandal that triggered it.
- Licensed operators processed roughly Br199 billion in betting transactions over that period.
- Of about Br30 billion in commissions owed to the state, only Br3.6 billion was actually paid — close to 12% of what was due.
- Including unpaid fines, licence-renewal fees and registration charges, the total shortfall identified came to roughly Br27.5 billion.
- One operator, Dash Betting, reportedly accounted for Br8.64 billion of that total — close to a third of all outstanding obligations, according to iGaming Business.
What tax applies to betting winnings in Ethiopia right now?
The legal tax framework technically still exists even though no operator is currently licensed to apply it. Under Proclamation No. 1395/2025, which took effect in mid-2025, Ethiopia raised the withholding tax on winnings from lotteries, prize draws and sports betting from roughly 15% to between 20% and 25% of the full prize amount — a notable jump from the previous flat rate.
Operators separately pay a turnover tax of about 15% on total stakes, not on gross gaming revenue (GGR). This is a structure Ethiopia’s National Lottery Administration has signalled it may revisit, since most peer markets in the region tax operators on GGR rather than turnover. Until a relaunch happens, though, these rates have no active licensed market to apply to.
Has Ethiopia kept enforcing the ban through 2026?
Yes — enforcement didn’t stop at the initial revocation. In August 2026, Ethiopia’s Government Communication Service confirmed action had been taken against 38 betting enterprises. Separately, the National Intelligence and Security Service revoked several additional licences tied to digital lottery partnerships as part of the ongoing hidden-income investigation.
Legal disputes continue case by case rather than resolving in bulk. Hulu Sport remained suspended even after Ethiopia’s Federal High Court overturned a National Lottery Administration decision against it on July 28, 2026 — a sign that winning in court hasn’t translated into getting back to market.
Is Ethiopia actually relaunching sports betting, and when?
A relaunch appears to be the direction of travel, but no date has been set. At a February 2026 parliamentary hearing on a draft sports law, state minister of culture and sports Mekiyu Mohammed said blocking betting entirely was impractical in today’s environment, pointing toward some future regulated framework rather than a permanent ban.
ELS CEO Beza Girma has said any relaunch will be backed by a new unified digital monitoring system, built to track operators’ financial and legal obligations in real time before a new licence is even granted — positioned as a precondition for reopening, not an add-on introduced afterward.
One pressure pushing the government toward reopening: the ban hasn’t stopped betting, it has just pushed it underground. Black-market betting volume reportedly reached about Br20 billion in September 2026 alone — roughly four times 2023 baseline levels — according to figures from Fana Media Corporation cited in industry reporting.
What will change under the new licensing framework?
No formal framework has been published yet, but a few things are already clear from legislation and regulator statements.
- Ethiopia’s Parliament enacted the Federal Sport Development and Management Proclamation No. 1413/2026, gazetted on July 3, 2026 — but the final version dropped the disputed provision that would have funded sports development directly from betting revenue. Article 56 instead sets up a Federal Sports Development Fund with its funding sources left to future regulations.
- Industry figures expect the eventual regime to be considerably stricter than 2022-2025 rules, potentially extending to individual review of game providers — though this has not been confirmed in any published regulation.
- Licence duration, fees, technical requirements, ownership rules, AML obligations and advertising restrictions are all still pending — none of this has been published in a licensing framework as of the most recent reporting.
What should bettors and operators do while the market stays suspended?
For bettors: there is currently no licensed Ethiopian sports betting platform. Any site or shop claiming local licensed status is misrepresenting its position, and using unlicensed platforms carries real risk — including no regulatory recourse if a payout is withheld or an account is frozen.
For operators watching the relaunch: the audit’s unpaid-commission figures suggest unresolved liabilities are likely to follow some companies into any new licensing round, and the design of the promised digital monitoring system will largely determine how workable a return to market actually is. For the surrounding regional picture, see our country-by-country guide to betting laws and taxes across Africa, and for how Ethiopia’s 20-25% withholding rate compares with neighbouring markets, see our breakdown of sports betting winnings tax across Africa.
Kwame Mensah is an experienced gambling analyst focused on the African betting industry. He shares insights on sports betting, casino platforms, market trends, and responsible gaming across multiple African countries.
