Laws and regulation

In Eswatini, there is a permit regime for the offline segment: casinos, bookmakers and lotteries operate under individual licenses issued by the state regulator (Gaming Board) under the relevant ministry.

Basic conditions include verification of beneficiaries, financial stability, responsible play plans, age restrictions (usually 18 +), advertising and anti-addiction rules, as well as AML/CFT requirements and reporting.

Compliance monitoring - through inspections and annual renewal.

Online casinos and remote bets do not have a separate full-fledged regime: they do not issue local licenses for online, so digital services are considered illegal/unlicensed for residents.

For operators, this means a ban on targeting local users and the need for geoblocks; for players - the lack of regulatory protection when accessing foreign sites.

Potential changes are usually discussed around the unification of rules, increasing tax transparency and introducing uniform responsible gambling standards for all channels.