Lesotho: Gambling laws, betting and lotteries

Legal overview

Legal overview

Lesotho has separate legacy laws for casinos, betting and lotteries, supplemented by the Business Licensing and Registration Act 2019 and its 2020 Regulations. Government provides a formal casino licence service, while general betting and gambling businesses require a business licence renewed every six months. Public official material does not yet provide a consolidated modern framework, a complete operator register or clear remote-gambling rules.

Regulatory developments

A 2024 parliamentary statement described work on a Casino Act intended to encompass gambling and betting, improve revenue controls and address anti-money-laundering issues. Until enacted text and commencement are officially published, the proposal must be treated as reform in progress rather than current law.

Responsible gambling

Responsible gambling

The 2020 Business Licensing and Registration Regulations prohibit persons under 18 from entering gambling premises or participating in betting and gambling. They also restrict licensed businesses to designated outlets and prescribe operating conditions. Editorial coverage should add clear risk, budget and loss-chasing warnings without claiming that the framework supplies comprehensive online player protection.

Regulated

Casino

Current position

Casino gambling in Lesotho is a licensed land-based activity. The government’s casino service requires company, ownership, financial, premises and floor-plan evidence and subjects applications to a vetting period. The wider business rules add licensing, inspection and under-age controls. The public framework is nevertheless fragmented between older casino legislation and newer business rules, and Parliament has discussed replacement legislation. A Lesotho casino page should verify the exact licence and premises, avoid presenting an offshore site as locally approved and date every legal claim.

Licensing

Casino operation requires sector approval under the Casino Order framework and a government casino licence; licence categories include slots, tables, route operations and limited-payout machines.

Online availability

No authoritative remote-casino licence category or public list of domains authorised for Lesotho customers was identified.

Advertising and commercial links

Promote only a casino whose current sector and business licences can be verified directly; do not infer online authority from a land-based licence.

Responsible gambling

People under 18 may not enter gambling premises or participate. Casino pages should reinforce age checks, time and spending limits, breaks and loss warnings, and should provide help-oriented information without suggesting gambling can solve financial problems.

Regulated

Sports betting

Current position

Sports betting in Lesotho operates within a licensing framework rather than as an unrestricted activity. The 2020 Regulations require betting and gambling licences to be renewed twice a year, limit activity to designated outlets and exclude under-18s. However, the core Betting Control Act dates from 1975 and no consolidated official online regime or public bookmaker register was found. Rankings should therefore remain evidence-led: each operator must provide a current licence and confirmation that its website or application is covered before receiving an affiliate link.

Licensing

Betting is covered by the legacy Betting Control Act and the current business-licensing rules; a betting and gambling business licence must be renewed every six months.

Online availability

The official sources reviewed do not define a current remote-bookmaker licence or establish that a general business licence authorises online acceptance of bets.

Advertising and commercial links

Commercial links require direct verification of the operator’s current Lesotho licence and its permitted channel, locations and marketing scope.

Responsible gambling

Betting is restricted to adults aged 18 and over. Pages should explain odds and possible total loss, prohibit guaranteed-profit claims and encourage fixed budgets, time limits and pauses before further wagering.

Restricted

Predictions

Current position

A Lesotho predictions section can remain an editorial product when it analyses teams, form and probabilities without accepting money or operating a contest. The legal character changes when readers stake value, join a paid pool or receive prizes determined by an event, bringing the feature closer to regulated betting or lotteries. Because the current public rules are built around licensed outlets and older sector statutes, forecasts should be dated, transparent about uncertainty and separated from transactions unless the authorities confirm the appropriate licence.

Licensing

Independent sporting opinion is distinct from licensed betting, but accepting stakes, pooling entry money or awarding chance-based prizes enters the betting or lottery framework.

Online availability

No official special regime for online prediction markets was identified; transactional forecast products require direct legal and licensing confirmation.

Advertising and commercial links

Sponsored predictions must be disclosed, and any betting link should remain disabled until the linked operator and digital channel are verified.

Responsible gambling

Forecasts must never be described as certain income or a way to recover debt. Any eventual wagering pathway should be 18+, show loss risk clearly and include practical budget, break and support guidance.

Legally unclear

Lotteries

Current position

Lesotho has a dedicated Lotteries Act dating from 1975, but the official material available online does not expose a consolidated current text, a public register of authorised organisers or rules for digital ticket sales. That makes it unsafe to treat a familiar brand, foreign draw or mobile seller as approved. A country page should explain the older statutory basis while marking present administration as requiring confirmation. Commercial coverage should wait for documentary proof of the organiser’s authority, product approval, ticket channel and prize-claim terms.

Licensing

The Lotteries Act 1975 provides a legacy legal basis, but the current licence issuer, approved organiser list and modern product rules were not established from accessible official material.

Online availability

No verified legal route for online lottery ticket sales or foreign lottery distribution to Lesotho residents was found.

Advertising and commercial links

Do not list or link a lottery until the organiser, approval, draw rules and authorised sales channel have been confirmed by the responsible ministry.

Responsible gambling

Apply the verified 18+ rule to lottery participation, describe tickets as discretionary entertainment, show cost and random-loss risk and avoid investment language or repeated-purchase prompts.

Regulators and contacts

Regulators and contacts

Primary sources

Primary sources

• Business Licensing and Registration Act 2019 — Government of Lesotho
• Business Licensing and Registration Regulations 2020 — Ministry of Trade and Industry / Government of Lesotho
• Issuance of Casino Licenses — Government of Lesotho
• National Assembly Hansard, 23 March 2024 — National Assembly of Lesotho
• Contact Us — Ministry of Trade and Industry
• Services Policy Review: Lesotho — Inventory of Laws and Regulations — United Nations Conference on Trade and Development