The state-owned gaming company in Gabon has yet to disclose any businesses that have been approved to operate under the new state-controlled gambling system in the country, which has a population of approximately 2.65 million people along the Atlantic coast.
As of April 7, 2026, all previous authorisations, licences, and declarations became invalid. This date was noted in an official notice from the GDJ, signed by director general Roméo Nguema Ondo, calling for private operators to apply for new licences under the company’s oversight.
However, without any public announcements regarding the outcomes, it remains unclear whether any individual businesses have received approvals or are functioning under transitional measures. The lack of clarity leaves no public record detailing which operators are permitted to participate or under what terms.
In February, the GDJ invited expressions of interest, setting a deadline for submissions on March 2. The company assured a "transparent, fair and rigorous selection process" aimed at identifying operators with verified technical, financial, and organisational capabilities. All applicants were required to adhere to rules addressing excessive gambling, underage access, money laundering, and operational security measures.
Now, over seven months since the application deadline, the GDJ has not published any results. There have been no announcements concerning approved operators or any specifics about fees, operational requirements, and revenue-sharing arrangements that would govern private participation.
The inclusion of online betting into Gabon's gambling framework was established through Ordinance 0012/PR/2020, which was amended in February 2021. This framework categorized online betting operators as third-category entities with renewable five-year declarations, and a decree implemented in May 2022 limited the number of online operators nationwide to five over a three-year period.
The new framework was approved by the Council of Ministers on December 29, 2025, with relevant ordinances dated December 30. The reform replaced the existing gaming commission and its technical secretariat, leading to the establishment of the GDJ as the entity responsible for organising, operating, and overseeing gambling activities while supervising private operators.
Scrutiny from parliament in 2026 raised concerns about potential conflicts of interest arising from the dual role of a single state company as both operator and overseer. Former interior minister Adrien Nguema Mba assured that mechanisms would be in place to keep the oversight functions separate from the GDJ's operational roles. During a Senate committee session in June, he referred to the reform as a "sovereign choice, guided by the urgency of a total reappropriation of this sector," while also outlining plans for the establishment of 2,000 points of sale across Gabon’s nine provinces. He promised that the GDJ would ensure complete traceability of financial flows that the state had previously struggled to monitor.
The GDJ held its inaugural board meeting on August 7, where members approved its strategic plan, budget, and internal regulations. Nonetheless, detailed public information on how the GDJ will separate its commercial and supervisory responsibilities remains limited.
In May 2025, Gabon Media Time reported that the responsibility for consolidating gambling-related financial transactions had been assigned to eTech SAS without a competitive bidding process. Local technology firms criticized the decision, claiming they were excluded from the tender. Hermann Immongault, the then interior minister, defended the choice, emphasizing the state’s sovereign right to make this operator selection and describing the process as both legal and transparent, framed within a public-private partnership. He also noted that eTech SAS would eventually be entirely state-owned.
At the time, Immongault articulated the rationale behind the state's desire to control financial operations in gambling, citing the outdated nature of the existing tax declaration model that required operators to self-report their earnings and pay an 8% tax.
In June 2026, it was reported that Paymetrust had entered into an agreement with the GDJ to manage and oversee online betting payments through a platform integrated with mobile money and banking networks. However, the GDJ has not clarified how Paymetrust's involvement integrates with eTech's existing role in the framework.
Reports in June indicated that operators are still awaiting final licences, operational agreements, and other details. Industry representatives expressed concerns regarding the necessity for individual licences for each activity and location, potential increases in cash handling costs, delays in payment processing, and challenges in account reconciliation. One report suggested an estimated deduction of 30% of turnover monthly for operators.
The initial Finance Law for 2026 projected a revenue of CFA1.24 billion ($2.1 million) from the taxation of gambling activities, although it did not disclose the fees or other terms that would apply to individual operators. While the reform is expected to enhance state control, improve financial transparency, and increase public revenue, the effectiveness of these changes can only be fully assessed once the GDJ reveals the results of the operator selection process, names the approved operators, and outlines the financial terms for their participation.
