Betting Software for Kenya, Built for GRA Rules

The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Kenya (GRA). It was created by the Gambling Control Act, 2025, which took effect on 26 August 2025 and replaced the Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act. The GRA took over the Betting Control and Licensing Board's role and licenses operators, suppliers, test labs and key employees under the 2026 Regulations.

In outline: incorporate a company with at least 30% of shares held by Kenyan citizens, open a Kenyan bank account, choose a licence such as online bookmaker, and apply to the GRA with tax compliance, capital, AML and technical documents, including a GRA-licensed platform provider. Key persons are vetted, and before launch you integrate with GRA monitoring and KRA. This is not legal advice.

The gazetted Second Schedule lists, for an online bookmaker, KES 5 million to apply, KES 50 million for the licence and a KES 5 million annual operating fee. The Regulations also set KES 100 million of gambling capital for an online bookmaker, and the Act sets KES 100 million of security for online gambling. The fee and capital schedules are being challenged in the High Court, so confirm current amounts with the GRA. This is not legal advice.

Yes. The Gambling Control Act, 2025 makes providing gambling software or a platform a licensed activity, and Regulation 15 of the Licensing Regulations, 2026 sets the GRA licence (Form 12), renewed yearly. The gazetted fees are KES 200,000 to apply and KES 1 million a year. Capermint does not hold this licence, so the supply route is agreed with you and your counsel before delivery.

Only through a licensed route. Operators must name a GRA-licensed platform and games provider, and Regulation 19 applies the Act's 30% Kenyan shareholding and Kenyan bank account rules to every licence applicant. A foreign supplier may therefore need a Kenyan entity that holds the licence, or another route your Kenyan counsel confirms. This is not legal advice.

Yes, unless the GRA grants a prior written exemption. Regulation 42 of the Conduct Regulations requires player data to be stored and processed on servers in Kenya and encrypted in transit and at rest. Operators also register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. We plan primary and disaster-recovery hosting in Kenya from the start.

Yes. The rules expect mobile money: paybills are declared to the GRA, payment service providers need GRA approval, and wins up to KES 500,000 are paid immediately to the player's mobile-money wallet or account. Larger wins follow slower tiers with more checks. We integrate M-Pesa paybills through Safaricom's Daraja API and other providers you contract.

The platform must give the GRA real-time access through a secure API and integrate with its central monitoring system and the national gambling register. Operators confirm the integration in their commencement notice. We build the adapter to the interface specification the GRA issues to the licensee, with tamper-evident logs behind it.

Online platforms must offer real-time self-exclusion, block excluded players automatically, run daily checks against the register, refund deposits made in breach within seven days and report attempts to the GRA. Existing licensees have six months from the Conduct Regulations coming into force on 30 June 2026 to integrate. We build the register connector and blocking rules into the wallet and account flows.

RNGs must be certified by the GRA or its approved agent, and gambling equipment testing is itself a GRA-licensed activity, so check which labs the GRA currently recognises. We build RNG and game math ready for independent testing by accredited labs such as GLI, iTech Labs or BMM; certification is obtained by the operator or game owner.

Typical ranges: $10K–$40K for a single game MVP, $35K–$120K for a white-label or turnkey platform launched in 6–10 weeks once licences and provider agreements are in place, $60K–$180K for a custom sportsbook and $200K–$500K+ for multi-vertical builds. A final quote follows a scoping call.

Yes, once the licensing route is clear. Form 12 lists software modifier as its own authorisation type, so agree with your counsel who is authorised to change a live Kenyan platform. We then run a gap analysis against the Licensing and Conduct Regulations and build the missing pieces, such as the GRA monitoring adapter, self-exclusion connector, Kenyan hosting move or payout tiers.