Sierra Leone: Gambling laws, betting and lotteries

Legal overview

Legal overview

Sierra Leone has a statutory betting and lottery framework rooted in the Control of Betting and Lotteries Act 1969 and supplemented by later Finance Acts. The National Revenue Authority collects regulatory charges and taxes and monitors betting-company fiscal compliance. This establishes legal and fiscal oversight, but the official public record reviewed does not expose a complete modern licensing procedure, authoritative operator register or clear rules for every online product.

Regulatory developments

The Finance Act 2024 brought gambling, betting and lottery services into a 10% net-wagered excise and expressly addressed digital gambling and betting for income-tax purposes. NRA intensified compliance and system-linkage work in 2025. The 2023 national risk assessment nevertheless identified a material AML/CFT supervision gap for casinos and gaming businesses, so tax compliance must not be represented as complete regulatory approval.

Responsible gambling

Responsible gambling

No authoritative current statutory minimum gambling age or comprehensive national responsible-gambling code was located in the official sources reviewed. Country content should therefore apply 18+ as a conservative editorial safeguard, label it as such, provide harm-prevention guidance and avoid claiming that 18 is a verified Sierra Leone legal threshold.

Legally unclear

Casino

Current position

Sierra Leone recognises casinos within its fiscal framework: the National Revenue Authority collects applicable registration and regulatory charges, and gambling services are subject to excise. Those facts do not by themselves prove that a named casino holds a current operating licence. The public official material reviewed does not supply a modern licence register or a clear remote-casino pathway, while the national risk assessment recorded an AML/CFT supervision gap. A Sierra Leone casino page should explain these limits and withhold commercial rankings until documentary approval can be checked.

Licensing

Casino businesses are recognised for regulatory charges and taxation, but no current public licensing procedure or authoritative casino register was identified.

Online availability

Digital gambling is recognised for tax purposes, but the official sources reviewed do not establish a transparent online-casino licence or show which remote operators may accept Sierra Leone customers.

Advertising and commercial links

A casino should not be described as licensed or recommended without direct documentary confirmation of its operating permission, permitted channel and advertising authority.

Responsible gambling

Casino pages should use a clearly labelled editorial 18+ rule, offer deposit and time-limit guidance, warn against borrowing or chasing losses and direct anyone experiencing harm to health or counselling support.

Regulated

Sports betting

Current position

Sports betting operates within an identifiable Sierra Leone legal and fiscal framework. In 2025 the National Revenue Authority publicly met named betting companies about PAYE, withholding tax, GST, gaming and betting excise, system linkage and auditability. This is strong evidence of active oversight, but it is not a substitute for checking an individual bookmaker licence. Country content may describe the regulated framework while keeping rankings provisional until each operator supplies verifiable local permission and the allowed online and marketing scope is confirmed.

Licensing

Betting is governed by the Control of Betting and Lotteries framework and later Finance Acts; NRA conducts compliance work and collects applicable fees and taxes. Each operator licence still requires individual verification.

Online availability

The Finance Act 2024 expressly recognises digital gambling and betting for taxation, but tax treatment does not prove that every online bookmaker is authorised to operate locally.

Advertising and commercial links

Only operators able to document current Sierra Leone authority should receive commercial links; paid placement and affiliate relationships must be disclosed.

Responsible gambling

Betting coverage should apply an editorial 18+ threshold unless an authoritative statutory age is obtained, reject guaranteed-win language, explain odds and volatility and encourage strict time and money limits.

Restricted

Predictions

Current position

Predictions can be published in Sierra Leone as editorial analysis when they discuss form, statistics and uncertainty without taking stakes or running a prize scheme. The legal risk changes when a feature accepts money, pools entries, promises winnings or serves mainly as a route into an unverified bookmaker. Pages should keep forecasts dated and evidence-based, state that no result is certain and separate free analysis from gambling transactions. Commercial calls to action should remain disabled until the connected operator’s local authority is verified.

Licensing

Independent sports analysis is distinct from accepting bets, operating a pool or charging for a chance-based prize, which can enter the betting and lottery framework.

Online availability

A prediction service linked to digital wagering or an operator transaction inherits the unresolved operator-authorisation and online-channel questions.

Advertising and commercial links

Sponsored forecasts must be labelled and should not route users to a bookmaker until that operator’s Sierra Leone authority is documented.

Responsible gambling

Prediction articles must never present betting as income or a reliable recovery strategy. Apply the editorial 18+ rule to linked wagering, show probability uncertainty and remind readers not to chase losses.

Regulated

Lotteries

Current position

Sierra Leone has a longstanding statutory lottery framework and an active State Lottery Company structure confirmed by Parliament in 2022. Lottery services also fall within the Finance Act 2024 excise rules. These points support treating authorised lotteries as regulated, but they do not validate every draw, reseller or foreign website. A Sierra Leone lottery page should verify the organiser and ticket channel, publish transparent draw and prize rules and avoid listing an online product merely because it pays local tax or uses national branding.

Licensing

Lotteries fall within the Control of Betting and Lotteries framework, and Parliament confirmed continuing state involvement through the Sierra Leone State Lottery Company joint venture.

Online availability

The reviewed official material does not clearly establish which lottery tickets may be sold online or whether foreign lottery products may target residents.

Advertising and commercial links

Promotion requires verification of the organiser, approval, draw terms and authorised sales channel; state involvement must not be implied for unrelated products.

Responsible gambling

Lottery material should use an editorial 18+ safeguard, explain that every ticket can lose, display the full purchase cost and odds where available and prohibit investment or guaranteed-return language.

Regulators and contacts

Regulators and contacts

Primary sources

Primary sources

• Finance Act 2021 — Government of Sierra Leone / National Revenue Authority
• Finance Act 2024 — Government of Sierra Leone / Ministry of Finance
• Second National Risk Assessment Report 2023 — Financial Intelligence Unit Sierra Leone
• NRA Engages Betting Companies on Compliance — National Revenue Authority
• Parliament Ratifies Joint Venture Agreement on the Sierra Leone State Lottery Company Limited — Parliament of Sierra Leone