GAMING IN MADAGASCAR

Gambling is legal in Madagascar, all various forms of gambling activities, from casinos games to sports betting and lottery are permitted in the country.

Madagascar officially named the Republic of Madagascar; the island country 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. The country’s population of over 26 million people, the capital city is Antananarivo and some of the largest city, Toamasina, Antsirabe, Franarantsoa, Mahajanga and Toliara.

Gambling appears to be legal in Madagascar as 4 land-based casinos are operating there currently:

  1. Carlton Casino & Hotel
  2. Casino Marina Antananarivo
  3. Colbert Hotel & Casino
  4. Hotel De I’Avenue & Casino

Land-based gambling is regulated by the government. Just operators with proper licenses can conduct such activities. These casinos are offering the most popular games like roulette, poker, blackjack, and slot machines to name a few. However, there is little to no information about the status of online gambling in the country. It is not illegal that’s for sure, but not regulated like the land-based operations either. Therefore, the only option for players from Madagascar is to visit an offshore online casino where they are accepted.

There aren’t any land-based bingo halls available in Madagascar. Though, because players from Madagascar can enjoy a good bingo game in numerous offshore online casinos.

Sports betting is a pretty common form of gambling around the world. Betting on sports appears to be legal in Madagascar as the country has annual horse races tracing back to the French colonial days. However, online gambling is not yet regulated in the country. Therefore, players from Madagascar “have” to bet at foreign online bookmakers if they want to play online and from the comfort of their homes.

With no licensing body in place for online gambling, there is no type of protection for players who choose to place bets on the Internet. Any future attempt to regulate the industry would most likely include some good levels of protection, however, because the land-based casinos they have also include processes for players who have disputes, and these disputes are taken very seriously.

While no licensing process is in place in Madagascar for any form of online gambling site, there are licenses given for land-based casinos. This is a good sign because it means that there are already procedures and officials in place that could pivot over to the online sector in the future. Already having a licensing body for land-based games in place makes it a lot more likely that any proposed legislation for online gambling will pass in the future.

But at the moment, there’s been no indication that anyone is interested in regulating the industry in Madagascar at this time. No government officials have brought it up, and there hasn’t been any suggested legislation of any kind.