The bookmakers ranked here are offshore brands that take Ethiopian sign-ups without an Ethiopian licence, and each row says so. Before any relaunch the Service wants its digital control system running, and it has set no date.
Betting sites in Ethiopia after the cancellation
Betting sites in Ethiopia that still take customers do so without a licence. The Service said in July 2026 that no sports betting company held a valid one. Action against 38 betting firms was reported by the government in August 2026. The Service has also warned the public about illegal betting adverts.
The firms that held licences until December 2025 included Hulu Sport, whose return was blocked by a court. Their sites and agents sit outside the law until a new system issues licences.
A punter on a working site today is on an unlicensed one, the ranked brands included, and no Ethiopian regulator stands behind the balance or the payout. A small first deposit and an early withdrawal test show how a brand pays before larger sums go in; the relaunch will bring licensed options back.
New betting sites in Ethiopia after the payment block
New betting sites in Ethiopia that advertise today work outside the law, because no licence has been issued since the cancellation. The December 2025 directive told banks, payment instrument issuers and payment system operators to stop serving betting companies. A deposit to such a site therefore runs through a channel the regulator has ordered shut.
The money kept moving regardless. Fana Media Corporation reported an investigation that put about 20 billion birr through unlicensed platforms in September 2026 alone. Licensed turnover had reached roughly 20 billion birr a month by September 2025, up from about 4.7 billion birr across the whole of 2022.
Those figures explain the Service's position. The relaunch is about control of the money flow, and a brand that opens before the call for applications is not part of it.
Offshore sportsbooks taking Ethiopian accounts
Online betting in Ethiopia now runs through foreign-licensed sportsbooks. The ranking lists the global brands that take Ethiopian accounts, in partner order, with the licence each one prints and the app builds it publishes. None of them holds an Ethiopian licence, because none has been issued since December 2025.
No ranked brand publishes a birr welcome for Ethiopia, so the offer cells stay empty rather than carry a figure from another market. Two promo codes apply at sign-up: DATA0 at 1xBet and DATA004 at 888Starz.
1xBet
1xBet accepts Ethiopian accounts on its offshore licence, and the code DATA0 is entered at registration. No birr welcome is published for the market. Android and iOS apps download from the brand's site.
22Bet
22Bet takes Ethiopian sign-ups on its international licence. No birr welcome is published, and no Ethiopian licence has existed for any bookmaker since the December 2025 cancellation. Android and iOS apps come from the brand's own site.
BetWinner
BetWinner serves Ethiopia from its Curaçao licence, outside the Lottery Service's system. It publishes no birr offer, and its Android and iOS apps sit on its own domain. A balance there answers to the Curaçao licensee.
21+ only. Betting carries risk; stake what you can afford to lose. Terms apply at the bookmaker.
Melbet
Melbet runs Ethiopian accounts under Curaçao licence OGL/2024/561/0554, the number its footer prints across Africa. No Ethiopia-specific welcome appears in its terms. Android and iOS builds are published.
Paripesa
Paripesa takes Ethiopian sign-ups on offshore paperwork and publishes no birr figure. Apps run on Android and iOS. With no regulator in the country, the brand's own support desk is where a dispute ends.
888starz
888Starz takes Ethiopian customers under a Curaçao licence, and the code DATA004 goes in its sign-up form. Its sports and casino welcomes carry no birr cap for Ethiopia.
21+ only. Betting carries risk; stake what you can afford to lose. Terms apply at the bookmaker.
Ethiopia's list of legal betting sites, empty since 15 December 2025
The Ethiopian Lottery Service keeps the list of legal betting sites in Ethiopia, and it has held no name since 15 December 2025. Until 4 December 2025 it carried the companies the Service then stopped, Dash Betting and Hulu Sport among them.
In July 2026 the Service repeated that no company held a valid licence and urged the public not to deposit through sites, apps, agents or social media pages that advertise betting.
A future list will come out of the new licensing round, in which each company is tied to the Service's digital monitoring system before it trades. The legal basis stays the National Lottery Administration Re-establishment Proclamation No. 535/2007.
The Service's chief executive, Beza Girma, told Parliament in February 2026 that split oversight between two ministries had made the old rules hard to enforce.
Check any claim of a licence against the Service's own notices. No other body can issue one.
Betting in Ethiopia with Telebirr and other wallets
Betting in Ethiopia with Telebirr was the normal way to deposit when licences existed, with M-Pesa Ethiopia and bank transfers beside it. A wallet changes nothing now. A Telebirr prompt from a betting site is a payment to a company with no licence.
The December 2025 directive reached the wallets as well as the banks: payment instrument issuers and payment system operators were told to stop serving betting companies, and press reports named Telebirr among the channels instructed to block betting transfers. Ethio Telecom's wallet keeps working for everything else.
Telebirr still pays for the National Lottery's licensed games. It will carry betting deposits again once the Service issues licences under the new system. That system ties every company to one digital platform that tracks its payments.
Until then a Telebirr prompt from any betting brand, the ranked offshore ones included, is a payment outside the Service's system and through a channel the directive told to stop.
Why the licences were cancelled
The Service stopped 22 companies on 4 December 2025 after a tip-off from rule-making and security bodies. On 15 December 2025 it cancelled all sports betting licences and pointed to rule breaches and fraud concerns. Each company was told it still owed unsettled bets and customer balances.
A draft audit covered July 2023, when the licences began, to December 2025. It found about 199 billion birr in payments and around 30 billion birr in fees due. Only 3.6 billion had been paid, a gap of about 27.5 billion birr, around US$180 million. One company owed 8.64 billion birr and ten firms owed 19 billion between them.
The Service's chief executive confirmed the draft figures in September 2026 and said recovery would go through the courts with other government bodies. The audit drove the decision, which is why the relaunch is built around payment tracking rather than new licence fees.
The relaunch plan and the digital control system
The relaunch plan announced in 2026 makes one digital control system the condition for any new licence. The regulator will track every company's payments in real time. Officials said in September 2026 that the restart waits for that system under the Digital Ethiopia 2030 plan.
No rules, process or timetable for applications has been published. The head of the Service has spoken of tighter licence terms, and the State Minister of Culture and Sport, Mekiyu Mohammed, has said a permanent ban is unrealistic and that the sector needs a clear legal framework. The court ruling that blocked Hulu Sport's return shows that the stop holds.
Watch the Service's own notices for the call for applications. A brand that announces its return before that call is making a claim the regulator has not.
Is betting legal in Ethiopia, and what remains licensed
Betting is legal in Ethiopia only with a licence from the Service. Since December 2025 no sports betting licence exists, so sports betting is in effect banned. The National Lottery's own games remain licensed, run by the Service itself, and the published age for gambling is 21.
Online casino and poker were never licensed. The lottery is the only legal gambling product in the country today. Keno-style draws offered by former betting brands fall under the same cancellation.
A punter's protection today is distance. With no licence there is no complaint route, and no regulator stands behind a balance. The lottery draws run by the Service remain the one place where a ticket and a payout sit inside the law.
Keno betting online in Ethiopia under the same cancellation
Keno betting online in Ethiopia was sold by the licensed betting brands beside their football markets, a quick draw played from the same balance. The cancellation of 15 December 2025 covered every product those licences allowed. Keno draws run by a former betting brand have no licence today either, online or in a shop.
The Service's own draws are a different matter. It launched a digital lottery platform in April 2025 under a public-private partnership that was later ended, and its lottery games remain the licensed form of gambling. Reports from September 2026 say the relaunch will cover sports betting and digital lottery services together, in a new form.
A keno page that asks for a Telebirr deposit now stands where any betting site stands, without a licence or a complaint route.
What punters with balances or open bets can do
Punters with balances or open bets at a company that held a licence hold a claim the Service recognised when it cancelled the licences. Write to the company, keep screenshots of the balance and the bet IDs, and keep the deposit records from Telebirr or the bank.
- Ask for the balance in writing through the company's published contact and keep the reply.
- Save the bet IDs, the account number and the deposit receipts.
- Report an unanswered claim to the Service with those records.
- Ignore any site or agent that offers to recover the money for a fee; the claim sits with the company and the regulator.
Balances at the ranked offshore brands sit outside this route: the claim there runs to the brand's own licence, Curaçao for BetWinner, Melbet and 888Starz, not to the Service. Stakes small enough to lose without a complaint route are the sensible size at those brands.
Questions about betting in Ethiopia
Is betting legal in Ethiopia right now?
Licensed sports betting is on hold. The Ethiopian Lottery Service stopped 22 companies on 4 December 2025 and cancelled every sports betting licence from 15 December 2025. In July 2026 it said that no company held a valid licence. Any site taking Ethiopian bets today works without one.
Which betting is working in Ethiopia?
No licensed sports betting company is working. Offshore brands, the ones ranked here included, still take Ethiopian customers without an Ethiopian licence, and the Service has warned the public about illegal betting adverts. The National Lottery's own games remain the licensed form of gambling.
Can I bet with Telebirr?
Telebirr is a mobile money wallet, and a wallet changes nothing about the licence position. A site that takes a Telebirr deposit for sports betting today has no Ethiopian licence, the ranked offshore brands included, and the December 2025 directive told payment providers to stop serving betting companies.
Why were the licences cancelled?
The Service pointed to rule breaches and fraud concerns after a tip-off from security bodies. A draft audit for July 2023 to December 2025 found about 27.5 billion birr in fees owed and unpaid. The cancellation came within two weeks of the stop order on 22 companies.
When will betting reopen in Ethiopia?
No date has been given. The Service is building a single digital system to track each company's payments, and officials said in September 2026 that the restart waits for that system. Action against 38 betting firms was reported in August 2026.
What happens to money in a betting account?
When the licences were cancelled, each company was told it still owed unsettled bets and customer balances. A punter with a balance should write to the company and keep the records. The Service is the body to complain to about a company that held a licence.
What is the legal age for gambling in Ethiopia?
21, under the published rules. That age already governs the National Lottery's games, and any new betting licence will carry it too, with the company obliged to check it before taking a first deposit.
Does the ban cover online casino games?
Online casino and poker were never licensed in Ethiopia, and the 2025 cancellation removed the sports betting licences that did exist. The lottery is the only licensed gambling product, and the Service runs it itself.
Is keno betting online in Ethiopia still licensed?
No. Keno draws were a product of the licensed betting brands, and the cancellation of 15 December 2025 covered everything those licences allowed. The Service's own lottery draws are the licensed games; a keno page asking for a deposit today works without a licence.
Who keeps the list of legal betting sites in Ethiopia?
With the Ethiopian Lottery Service, and it has been empty since 15 December 2025. The next list will come from the new licensing round, once the digital monitoring system is in place. No other body can issue a betting licence in Ethiopia.