Simon’s Guide to Online Casinos in Madagascar

Online casino gambling is not explicitly regulated in Madagascar. Officially named the Republic of Madagascar, the island country is located in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of East Africa. Madagascar had been a part of the French Colonial Empire from 1897 until it gained its independence in 1960. Today, French remains an official language in the country along with the local language, Malagasy.

Online casino gambling is not regulated at the moment by the gambling laws of Madagascar. The current gambling laws were passed before online casino gambling gained its current popularity, therefore the legislators had not deemed it important to specify what regulations apply to the online version of casino games.

The Ministry of the Interior and Decentralisation, the authority supervising casino gambling in Madagascar, has recently made the decision to revise and actualise the Malagasy casino gambling regulations. They declared that the current gambling law no longer fulfils its purpose, as the context of casino gambling has changed significantly since the time it was created. The new version of the casino regulation is intended to cover online casinos as well.

It has not yet been explicitly stated whether online casinos would be legal in the future. However, as casinos are currently legal in Madagascar and no plan to ban casino gambling has been announced, one can safely speculate that online casinos will require licensing in the future, rather than being prohibited. For now, however, there is no way for online casino operators to obtain a gambling permit in Madagascar, and therefore there are no licensed and legal online casinos in the country.

On the other hand, there are also no regulations in place that would prevent locals from playing on international online casino sites. Most international online casinos welcome players from Madagascar, and a large number of them is also available in French.

Online casinos accepting players from Madagascar

Here’s a selection of online casinos, which accept players from Madagascar:

Betsson online casino accepting players from Madagascar

Betsafe online casino accepting players from Madagascar

CasinoEuro online casino accepting players from Madagascar

Black Lotus online casino accepting players from Madagascar

Lotus Asia online casino accepting players from Madagascar

32Red online casino accepting players from Madagascar

BGO online casino accepting players from Madagascar

While online casinos are not yet covered by the Malagasy gambling laws, brick and mortar casinos are definitely legal and regulated in Madagascar. The authority supervising casino gambling in the country is the Ministry of the Interior. All casino operators must obtain a licence from the ministry in order to be able to offer their services legally.

It should be noted, however, that casinos currently do not have the option to apply for gambling permits, as licensing has been suspended indefinitely. The ministry has made the decision that no new casino licences would be issued until the aforementioned overhaul of the casino regulation is completed. Casinos that held a valid licence at the time of the suspension are allowed to stay open as well as renew their licence should it be necessary.

There are currently four casinos in Madagascar, all of which are part of a resort, and all of which are located in the capital, Antananarivo. The largest casino in Madagascar is the Colbert Hotel and Casino, with over 250 slot machines as well as table games such as Blackjack, Roulette and Texas Hold’em Poker. The resort also features multiple restaurants and bars, as well as a fitness center.

At the moment, most forms of online gambling are just as unregulated as online casino gambling in Madagascar. Gambling in general is allowed, but the current gambling law does not explicitly regulate the online version of the games. There are plans to review and update the gambling law, with the stated purpose of covering online gambling as well. However, there is very little information available regarding the future legal status of online gambling.

At the moment there appear to be no online gambling operators based in Madagascar, nor is there any clear way for them to obtain a gambling licence. Still, Madagascar has shown signs of being open to a legal and regulated online gambling scene. In 2011, an agreement was signed with GTECH to make tickets to the Malagasy lottery available online as well.

For now, international online gambling sites are the most convenient option for Malagasy gamblers. Most international online sports betting, online poker and online lottery sites welcome players from Madagascar.