Restricted Casinos in Nigeria

Recent actions taken by Nigerian government signal that it might soon shift towards making online gambling more and more accessible. That gives investors hopes that soon there won’t be any barriers to launch their gaming sites and start accepting players from Nigeria.

Just a few years ago the country hosted the first iGaming conference in Africa. After that historical event Nigeria became a regular host of similar conferences, and made efforts to discuss and promote its betting and gambling markets.

First step towards liberalization of online gambling were taken by Nigerian government back in 2004. That’s when online lottery was allowed along. Approximately at the same time several land based casinos were built. Until 2004 gambling in any shape or form was prohibited.

Despite slow progress, Nigeria is at the forefront of the African gambling world. First casino site was launched four years ago. It didn’t offer anything but roulette games, but since then things have changed drastically. It’s still illegal to gamble online in Nigeria, but this law isn’t properly enforced and many citizens enjoy casino games and sports betting. They just use gaming destinations that are registered and licensed elsewhere.

Experts estimate that in one year Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa will have online casino market worth over 35 billion dollars. Taxes collected from this growing industry could be one of the major sources of state income. If Nigerian government would embrace this opportunity by legalizing online casino games and implementing all necessary regulations, it could benefit a lot.

Nigerian government does think that taking another step towards legalization of online gambling is the most rational decision. Right now they lose a lot of tax money. It will help regulate the industry and deal with criminal activities and corruption. In addition, this will help attract new investors.

Nigerian government will find support if they decide to allow online gambling. Lagos State Lottery Board, which is responsible for granting licenses to lotto operators, can share their legislative experience. Moreover, FIFA is ready to cooperate and help build safe and fair environment to make sure interests of all parties are protected.

Nigeria is now watched by its African neighbors. Everyone is interested in how things turn out. If everything goes just fine, other countries might follow Nigerians’ footsteps by legalizing and regulating online gambling. Show less