Gaming · Nigeria
Obtain a sports-betting / gaming licence (state)
License a betting or lottery business. Since the Supreme Court's November 2024 judgment nullified federal jurisdiction over games of chance, licences are issued by the STATE regulator (e.g. Lagos LSLGA) for each state of operation: incorporate with ₦20m share capital → apply → Approval-in-Principle (90 days) → grant of licence + revenue levy.
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Who you will deal with
The steps
- License at STATE, not federal, level
- State gaming regulator (e.g. Lagos State Lotteries & Gaming Authority)
- The Supreme Court's November 2024 judgment nullified the National Lottery Act 2005 and held that games of chance fall exclusively to State Houses of Assembly. Operators now obtain a licence from each state in which they operate; the National Lottery Regulatory Commission no longer licenses operators nationally.
- Determination of states of operation
- Precondition
- Incorporate and meet the share-capital floor
- CAC; state regulator
- Incorporate under CAMA 2020 with a minimum share capital of ₦20,000,000, with gaming/betting in the object clause. In a foreign-owned company, Nigerians must hold at least 15% of the shares.
- CIC; MEMART (gaming object clause); ₦20m share capital; >=15% Nigerian shareholding
- Weeks
- Application and Approval-in-Principle
- Lagos State Lotteries & Gaming Authority (LSLGA)
- Three stages: application, approval-in-principle, and grant. In Lagos the application fee is ₦1,000,000. The regulator needs 10-15 working days for due diligence; an Approval in Principle valid for 90 days is granted where pre-approval requirements are met (technical platform, servers, responsible-gaming and AML controls).
- Application fee ₦1m; due-diligence pack; platform certification
- AIP in ~10-15 working days; valid 90 days
- Grant of licence, fees and levy
- LSLGA
- On satisfying the AIP conditions, pay the licence fee of ₦100,000,000 and receive the licence; annual renewal is ₦50,000,000. Licensees also remit a 2.5% levy on sales revenue.
- Licence fee ₦100m; renewal ₦50m/yr; 2.5% revenue levy
- On grant
The numbers behind the decision
Knowing the process is half of it. ONYX also tracks the operating environment you are entering — daily grid generation, official FX, state-level input prices and inflation, and sector output — each figure source-linked and dated.