- Updated:
- Published:
Ethiopia prepares a betting relaunch after a $170.8M audit gap
December’s licence revocation left the revenue baseline intact.
The Ethiopian Lottery Service (ELS) is preparing to relaunch sports betting and digital lotteries under stricter oversight. Chief executive Beza Girma confirmed a Fana Media Corporation account of the draft audit behind that plan.
The review covers July 2023, when operators first received licences, through December 2025. ELS suspended 22 firms on 4 December 2025, and on 15 December revoked every sports-betting licence and told banks and payment providers to block related payments.
Transactions in that window were Br199B ($1,24M). Operators paid Br3.6B ($22.4M) of the Br30B ($186.3M) commission due.
Unpaid obligations, including penalties, renewal fees and registration charges, total Br27.5B (USD$170.8M). ELS plans to recover the money with other government bodies through legal measures.
According to Blask data, September 2026 CEB sits 15.4% above September 2025. Onshore operators held 82.4% of that baseline a year earlier. From January 2026 the whole sum is offshore.
Blask Index fell 85.9% from the November 2025 peak to January 2026. Its onshore share moved from 96% in September 2025 to 20.7% a year later.
Offshore now holds the revenue local licences once held. Whether a new permit pulls Ethiopia betting search back onshore is still open.