Kenya GRA — Casino License

The Gambling Control Act, 2025 came into force on 26 August 2025. It repealed the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act of 1966 and created the GRA in its place. The formal handover happened in February 2026, and the regulations that make the new system workable were gazetted at the end of June 2026.

This matters when you check a site's credentials. The GRA doesn't issue one catch-all online permit. There's an online bookmaker licence, an online lottery licence and an online casino licence, and an operator needs the specific one covering what it actually offers. A sportsbook licence does not cover a casino section.

Operators licensed under the old Act got a 60-day window from the end of June 2026 to migrate. The new fee schedule was steep — figures around KES 50 million for an online licence, with a capital requirement on top — and it was promptly challenged. The High Court stayed the licensing regulations in July 2026 and then narrowed that order in August, leaving the increased fees and the capital requirement suspended while the rest of the framework stands. Treat any fee figure you read, including ours, as contested until the case concludes. What isn't in doubt is the effect on the field. Industry figures put the number of genuinely live operators at around 30, against up to 100 that held online betting licences under the previous regime. A brand that was licensed in 2025 is not automatically licensed now.

The GRA publishes a register of licensed operators. Search it by company name or licence number, not by the brand name — the licensed company is usually called something different from the website. If an operator isn't on the current register, treat it as unlicensed.