iGaming Payment Solutions
Africa · Verified 2026-07-31
iGaming payments inKenya
Deposits run on mobile money, led by M-Pesa (Safaricom), and settle in KES.
6
Providers with a rail here
4
Reach it directly
2
Rails tracked
KES
Settles in
Quick info
- Currency
- KES
- Region
- Africa
- Betting
- regulated
- Casino
- regulated
- Dominant rail
- Mobile money
- Providers
- 6 (4 direct)
- Regulator
- GRA
- Enforcement
- site blocking + payment blocking
What the rule actually is in Kenya
Our own reading, not a summary of someone else's
Regulated by the Gambling Regulatory Authority, which replaced the BCLB by the end of February 2026 under the Gambling Control Act 2025. It is one of Africa's largest betting markets and its tax code has now been rewritten two years running. Operators pay 15% of GGR monthly to the KRA. The Finance Act 2025 cut excise from 15% on each stake to 5% on each deposit and swapped the 20% withholding on winnings for a flat 5% on every withdrawal. The Finance Act 2026, in force since 1 July 2026, kept the 5% rate but widened the base to any value made available for gambling, chips and tokens included, pulled horse racing back into scope, and revived the 20% withholding on winnings over the regulator's own objection. A Kenyan player is now taxed going in, on the win, and coming back out. Enforcement reaches the rail directly: shutting down 58 illegal betting sites meant letters to both the Communications Authority and Safaricom, and the paybill numbers went down with the domains. Where M-Pesa carries almost every deposit, losing a paybill is losing the business.
How money actually moves
The rails players reach for, in the order that matters locally
- M-Pesa (Safaricom)dominant
mobile money
~90-95% of deposits/withdrawals; direct Daraja API with a dedicated Paybill/Till (no aggregator markup, B2C payouts, better uptime) is the single biggest cost/approval lever; Safaricom's gambling Paybill policy is the gatekeeper.
- Airtel Moneymajor
mobile money
#2 (~10%), rising on lower fees; added for redundancy.
Which providers reach these rails
6 of the providers we track carry a recorded entry for this market
Direct acquiring
4A direct relationship with the local rail rather than a hop through someone else's.
| Provider | Rails named | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Cellulant | M-Pesa (Safaricom), Airtel Money | industry knowledge |
| DPO Group | M-Pesa (Safaricom, direct Daraja), Airtel Money | industry knowledge |
| Flutterwave | M-Pesa (Safaricom), Airtel Money | industry knowledge |
| Paystack | M-Pesa (Safaricom) | provider's own claim |
Aggregated or indirect
2The rail is reachable, but through an aggregator, a local PSP or a wallet rather than directly.
| Provider | Access | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| EBANX | Aggregated | provider's own claim |
| Praxis Tech | Via PSP | provider's own claim |
Evidence grades run from named clients through platform catalogs and industry knowledge down to a provider's own claim. A claim we could not corroborate is still shown, labelled as what it is. See our methodology.
What it costs to operate, and who enforces
A missing field means we have not verified one, not that none exists
Operator tax
15% of GGR monthly, 5% excise on deposits, 20% withholding on winnings and 5% on withdrawals (Finance Act 2026)
Regulator
GRAGambling Regulatory Authority (replaced the BCLB in Feb 2026 under the Gambling Control Act 2025)
Enforcement reaches
site blocking and payment blocking
Enforcement here touches the money, not just the domain, so a processor can be ordered to stop serving an operator.