Although Liberia is one of Africa's first countries to make gambling legal, there has been little progress in licensing an online casino. Even StarNet, a company tasked with developing the infrastructure to support online gambling, has made little headway. Citizens often choose to frequent foreign online betting sites.
In 2016, the country passed gambling regulations, which sparked the development of a national lottery and land-based gambling. However, online betting is still not established in the region.
Liberia's gambling history dates to 1982 when the National Lottery Authority was established when the region was still under military rule. However, gambling was completely shut down during the civil war.
Within three years, it was available to citizens, but due to the country's instability, gambling was not the main priority. However, gambling regulations led to the popularization of the lottery, and land-based casinos established a presence.
Gambling Nowadays in Liberia
Currently, casino operators renew licenses every year.
However, there are still no online casino operators in Liberia, except unlicensed, foreign-based casinos, which offer services to citizens illegally. Gamblers who frequent these international online betting sites are not punished for doing so.
As the popularity of online casino gambling continues to grow, Liberians find ways to participate by signing up to gamble remotely.
Although there is a process for applying for an online casino license, which includes meeting the technical and financial requirements, no local company has been granted a license yet as of 2021.
There are reports that these illegally operating casinos are blocked from operating in the region. The NLA has laws in place to prevent unlicensed casinos from providing services to residents.
However, these laws are often ignored by both the foreign online betting sites and residents of Liberia who like to gamble on the internet.
Casino types
