Online casinos in Nigeria
Even though the development of the World Wide Web in Nigeria is not quite prominent as all over the world, yet online Nigerian gambling companies are advancing exponentially. The Nigerian gambling industry is developing every year due to modern innovations in the field of online gaming such as Nigeria online casino sites with various titles to choose and one of the recent payment options – cryptocurrency. Having these new opportunities, local people are even more eager to explore gambling sites in Nigeria.
Since this is a newly-introduced industry, we want to help you find the best legit online casinos available to players in Nigeria. Gambling for real money online can be risky - especially if you don’t know all the ins and outs of online casinos in Nigeria. This list will help you find online casinos that are 100% secure, and offer lots of additional aspects that will make your gambling experience exceptional.
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Best Nigeria online casinos
The history of Nigerian gambling
Throughout its evolution, online gambling went through lots of difficulties in Nigeria:
- In 2004 the government declares a ban on gaming in general.
- In 2016, the first authorized lottery was held online.
- After a while, several casinos were opened in Lagos and Abuja, the capital of Nigeria.
- In 2013, the first casino appeared. It offered only roulette games.
Although the country's gambling laws still formally restrict citizens from visiting gambling sites in the present times, they manage to do this with the help of international operators’ services. The statistics say that the gambling market in Nigeria and some other regions of the continent ramped up to 37 billion dollars in 2018.
The current situation on gambling in Nigeria
Nigeria is claimed to be one of the fastest-growing gambling countries in Africa. The total global volume of online gambling in Africa was only 0.5% in 2015. Due to the series of events of technological progress, in three years this number doubled.
The mentality of Nigerian players is based on the social status of the population since approximately 45% of them live in poverty. Nevertheless, unemployed youth and people with low incomes are always ready to save money on food to have some cash for the next bet. According to the gambling statistics more than 50% of the adult population regularly bet on sports in Nigeria. The culture of gambling in the country is still in its infancy.
However, with the expansion of the gambling industry, new types of online casino games in Nigeria have been added to the remaining one. Since online casinos came into the life of indigenous gamblers, it has brought such options as roulette, slots, baccarat, and blackjack, which have appealed to many gamble-lovers.
Having studied the perspectives of the online gambling market in Nigeria, experts conclude that this type of entertainment will be progressing in this region in the upcoming years due to some factors:
- Middle-class growth
- Availability of computers and smartphones
- Internet technology development
- Improvement of the legislation regarding the gambling business regulation and taxation
Nowadays, Nigeria presents significant success in the field of online gaming. Therefore, local people are getting acquainted with new opportunities for investment, business, and profit.
Regulatory authorities in Nigeria
Gambling is subjugated to two federal Acts of Nigeria. They are:
- The Gaming Machines Act claims that possessing gaming machines is illicit, leading to further imprisonment
- the Nigerian Criminal Code defines gaming houses as unlawful establishments providing gambling games. The owner of such buildings is about to be fined or be taken to jail for two years.
Nevertheless, these gambling laws do not refrain local players in Nigeria from connecting to international providers and making sports betting or playing casinos using the offshore operators’ services. Formally, if such gamblers get caught by the police, they may be fined. In reality, they will not.
The same situation applies the illegal operators. Allegedly, their illicit activities may fall under hefty fines, but due to the lax law system, local authorities and the police have no actual power over them.
Although online gambling is still illicit, there are three legitimate kinds of gambling in Nigeria:
- Betting is allowed referring to Subsection 3 of Section 239 in Chapter 22 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act. To be lawful, providers are obliged to possess a special tool to divide the sum of winnings between the players evenly. Of course, the operators have to maintain a partnership with the government to be controlled and registered.
- Lotteries are permitted according to Section 240 in Chapter 22 of the Nigerian Criminal Code Act. This kind of gambling implies any paper or other printed article that may provide the owner with a possible cash reward according to its rules.
- Land-based casinos are located in Lagos and Abuja, the capital of Nigeria. The offered list of games is limited. You can play such simple ones like blackjack, roulette, and slots.
Taking into accounts all the permissions and prohibitions, the fact that nothing can stop a real Nigerian gambler from playing gambling games is irrefutable.
Taxation laws on gambling in Nigeria
The tax system in the country developed back in the days of British imperialism. Therefore, now, the government is firmly determined to change taxation laws. It also applies to a gambling taxation part, from which the state budget currently receives almost nothing. Now the first income tax rate for both legal entities and individuals is the same and makes up 30% of the total profit.
Land-based casinos in Nigeria
As it was previously mentioned, there a few land-based casinos in Nigeria. In particular, there are three of them, which are legitimate. Two of them are situated in Lagos, and the last one is in Abuja. Despite its legality, the working hours are limited and variable. However, all of them can meet your needs in terms of both entertainment and making money.
Gaming house offers you one hundred slots, which are available 24/7, and ten table games are available on Monday up to Sunday at a specific time. The list of table games includes blackjack, the American version of roulette, and casino hold’em.
The casino itself is opened in the afternoon until early morning and suggests its visitors playing both poker and table games.
The casino is to your services in the evenings until early morning. Gamblers can enjoy more than forty slots, poker, and popular card games.
Banking options for gambling in Nigeria
Generally, Nigerian players do not have access to the usual payment systems, like Skrill or Neteller. However, some bookmakers, in particular, those who have a British license, may offer such a deposit option. Most transactions go through local banks. The following options are provided to Nigerian players:
Quickteller. It is the analog of Neteller, which connects to local banks and is replenished using the ATM terminals.
- Polaris Bank. It is a primary Nigerian financial establishment. Customers are provided with a wide range of services in terms of depositing and withdrawing money at local online casinos.
- Zenith Bank. This bank also suitable for making a deposit and withdrawing money at Nigerian casino sites
- ATM payments. This method guarantees you the convenient way of funding online entertainment.
- MasterCard. Credit card, which is widely used all over the world, and Nigeria, is not an exception. It supports online casinos transactions in a secure way.
- Visa. It is the second top choice among the Nigerian gamble-players.
- Cryptocurrency. In particular, Bitcoin may be one of the payment options. Regarding its simplicity, anonymity, and absence of fees, it is considered to be a good one for gambling transactions. Moreover, some gambling sites appreciate their players who pay by cryptocurrency. They offer them many bonuses and rewards.
It is better to check out thoroughly the payment methods offered by each real money online casino site in Nigeria, since not all of them can support this or that option.
Popular cities in Nigeria for gambling
As it was mentioned before, Nigeria is well known for its major land-based casinos located in Abuja and Lagos. They are Le Meridien Eko Hotel & Casino, Federal Palace Hotel & Casino, and The Transcorp Hilton. There you can play the most popular gambling games – poker, roulette, cards, and slots.
In fact, these casinos are initially the parts of hotels. So apart from playing gambling games, you can also enjoy the local scenery, walking across the rest area.
Facts about gambling in Nigeria
Take a look at these peculiar facts to be in the know about Nigerian gambling:
Nigeria holds the first position in terms of Internet accessibility among the people on the continent, which has influenced the development of the gaming industry.
- Online gambling is forbidden, yet it does not stop gamblers from playing
- Sports betting is one of the most viral kinds of gambling games among the country’s inhabitants – they spend more than 11 million dollars daily on this kind of entertainment.
- Although there a few legitimate casinos, their opening hours are limited, but the offered list of the gambling games includes all popular variants.
- The online gambling profit reached 60 million dollars in 2018. According to the report, indigenous people spend about 11.3 million dollars a day on sports bets, which is about 4.2 billion dollars a year.
