What the Board published
Public Notice No. 002 of 2026 announced an industry consultation on the licensing of bookmakers and set the workshop for 15 October 2026 in Windhoek.
The Board's frequently asked questions page sets out the Act's position. A licence is the condition for lawful betting, and running a book without one is punishable by up to two years in prison or an N$20,000 fine.
The Board also funds responsible gambling programmes through a Gambling Trust Fund, which will cover the customers of the bookmakers it licenses.
No date for the first grants has been published; the consultation is the stage at which conditions are settled.
What a Namibia bookmaker licence will mean for a punter
Today a Namibian punter bets with local brands that trade in N$ and with offshore brands that take sign-ups without a Namibian licence. Neither answers to the Board. A Namibia bookmaker licence puts a regulator behind the account: a complaint route, conditions on payouts and advertising, and the Trust Fund's programmes.
The ranked brands on the Namibia home page, 1xBet, 22Bet, Melbet among them, belong to the offshore group and are shown with the licence they hold elsewhere. Whether any of them applies in Namibia is a matter for the round.
The deposit stays the punter's in both cases; the licence buys the desk to complain to.
Tax and cashiers while the round runs
No withholding tax on betting winnings is published in Namibia, so an N$1,000 win is paid as N$1,000 at a local brand and at an offshore brand alike. Deposits run through bank transfer, cards and the wallets each brand's cashier lists. JSB Sports publishes an Android app for its local customers.
A licensed bookmaker will carry whatever conditions the Board attaches to payouts. Identity checks before a first withdrawal, of the kind every other market on this site already applies, are the likeliest.
Until then the N$ price on the slip is the whole comparison, and the weekly board on the Namibia home page shows it match by match.
What changed on the Namibia home page
The page records the consultation date and the notice number, prints the offshore position beside each ranked brand and lists the local brands without links. It will change the day the Board publishes its first grants.
A Namibian punter who opens an account today should keep the balance small, because no desk stands behind it yet. A licensed bookmaker will ask for identity documents before a first withdrawal once the round concludes. The brands that apply and are granted will be named here with their licence numbers.
The two questions below are the ones readers have asked most since the notice.
Questions about the licence round
Is online betting legal in Namibia today?
Operating unlicensed is an offence under the 2018 Gaming and Entertainment Control Act; the operator faces up to two years' imprisonment or an N$20,000 fine. No bookmaker licence has issued yet under the Act, so local brands and offshore brands alike trade ahead of the first licences.
Will a licence change the cashier?
A licensed bookmaker will pay to Namibian bank accounts and wallets under the Board's conditions, and the Board's complaint route and Gambling Trust Fund programmes will apply to its customers. The ranked offshore brands sit outside both until they apply and are granted.