Lottomatica’s agreement to absorb Cirsa, announced on 2 September, brings four Moroccan casinos into one of Europe’s largest listed gambling groups. Morocco accounts for about 2% of Cirsa’s revenue and about 4% of its earnings.

Neither company has announced plans to seek an online betting licence in North Africa. The deal nevertheless highlights the divide in Morocco’s gambling market.

Land-based gambling can attract international investment. Cirsa expanded its Marrakech presence last November. Private online betting has no equivalent licensing route.

Cirsa’s own IPO prospectus is blunt about it: “Online gaming only exists for betting, which is operated by a state agency,” it says of Morocco, adding that online casino games “are not allowed”.

The same divide exists in Tunisia and Egypt. Governments there have focused on prohibition and enforcement rather than opening online markets to private operators.

Morocco turns to courts to block offshore betting

Sports betting in Morocco, including online betting and virtual events, is reserved to state-owned Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports (MDJS). The company is 90% held by the Treasury and chaired by the sports minister.

Its exclusivity reportedly runs to 2036 under an unpublished 2016 convention with the state. The commercial operation is run under a tendered management contract rather than a licence. Unauthorised gaming houses and lotteries are criminal offences under articles 282 to 285 of the penal code.

MDJS has turned to the courts to challenge offshore betting. On 12 January the Casablanca commercial court, sitting in summary proceeding, ordered Maroc Telecom, Orange Maroc and Inwi to block 19 named betting sites and local payment intermediaries. Non-compliance carried a penalty of MAD10,000 a day.

Medias24 reported the judge’s reasoning: “Internet access providers are technically the only parties able to end the manifestly unlawful disturbance resulting from access to unauthorised betting sites.”

The order was short-lived. The commercial court of appeal granted a stay on 26 January. According to Medias24’s 12 February report, it then annulled the order and rejected MDJS’ claim, ending the daily penalty. MDJS could still appeal.

The court action came as MDJS was warning of the financial impact of offshore betting. Director General Younes El Mechrafi told a parliamentary sport forum in December that illegal sports betting stakes reached about MAD3.5 billion in 2024. He put the cost to the state at some MAD700 million, split between the national sports development fund and the Treasury.

Tunisia debates online betting without licensing it

Meanwhile, Tunisian gambling law rests on Decree-Law 74-20 of October 1974. The only lawful sports betting channel is the state company Promosport. Pari-mutuel horse race betting is managed by the Agence Tunisienne de Solidarité.

Parliament is now considering two competing approaches to online gambling. But neither has produced a licensing framework.

A private members’ bill, 2026/009, was put forward on 20 January by 23 deputies and referred to the General Legislation Committee on 29 January. It would amend the 1974 decree-law to prohibit all online gambling and require internet and payment providers to block it.

MP Yasser Gourari, one of the deputies promoting the measure, told Diwan FM that the bill provides for fines of MAD10,000 to MAD500,000 and prison terms of one to five years. Penalties rise where there is recidivism, involvement of minors or suspicion of money laundering.

He described online gambling and betting as a “social scourge“. Some people, he said, “after repeated losses and financial difficulties, have been driven to despair, sometimes to the point of contemplating suicide”.

Bill has since stalled

The committee considered the bill once, on 3 February, and has since taken no further action.

Meanwhile the government has been approaching the issue via a new bill. Sports minister Sadok Mourali said in November 2024 that a gambling and sports betting bill had been circulated for consultation. Twenty-six public institutions received that consultation, including the central bank, Competition Council and financial intelligence authority.

A year later he said the draft had been completely revised to bring it into line with international standards on sports betting manipulation and money laundering.

The text has not been published. It is not known whether it would allow private operators to be licensed or simply modernise Promosport’s monopoly. Mourali told a parliamentary committee in November 2025 that a new law would digitise sports betting.

Egypt turns to enforcement as legislation stalls

Egypt’s gambling rules were written around physical venues. Law 8 of 2022 provides that “gambling games may not be practised in establishments except by non-Egyptians”. No licensing framework exists for online betting.

In October 2024 the then-prosecutor general ordered the freezing of e-wallets and the suspension of mobile lines used by betting agents. Separately, in February this year, officials said regulators were working with the telecoms authority and the media council towards blocking about 80% of betting applications by the end of that month.

Ahmed Badawi, who chairs the House communications committee, said in May that the government would amend the anti-cybercrime law to name online betting explicitly. Life imprisonment was discussed for the gravest offences. No bill number or text has been published.

A separate private member’s bill was tabled by MP Martha Mahrous in January 2025. It proposed prison terms of two to five years and multi-million-Egyptian-pound fines for promoters, agents and payment facilitators. It has also gone nowhere.

Parliament rose on 22 July having passed 162 laws, none concerning betting. Egyptian news outlet Al-Watan reported that electronic betting was still among the committee’s files awaiting discussion on 17 August, listed separately from the cybercrime amendments. The House reconvenes on 1 October.

Neither bill has created a route to license private online betting. Egypt is pursuing an increasingly punitive enforcement model instead.

North Africa’s licensing gap persists

The three markets have reached the same point by different routes. Morocco has an incumbent defending its exclusivity through the courts, so far without success.

Tunisia has competing bills to prohibit or regulate online betting, neither of which has advanced. Egypt has relied on enforcement measures.

In all three, private online betting has no licensing route. Governments are tackling offshore demand through blocking, prohibition and criminal enforcement.

The contrast with land-based gambling is striking. Casinos in Morocco and Egypt operate within recognised frameworks and, in Morocco, attract international investment. Private online betting remains outside the legal market.

The scale of that unlicensed market is unclear. MDJS’ own estimate of about MAD3.5 billion a year is the only figure available. No comparable public estimate exists for Tunisia or Egypt.

Without a licensing route, these markets remain difficult to measure, tax or supervise. Blocking and criminalisation may disrupt operators, but they do not remove demand. Governments are left trying to suppress offshore betting rather than bring it within a regulated market.

Lottomatica于9月2日宣布的吸收合并Cirsa的协议，将四家摩洛哥赌场纳入欧洲最大的上市博彩集团之一。摩洛哥约占Cirsa收入的2%，约占其盈利的4%。

两家公司均未宣布计划在北非申请在线博彩牌照。尽管如此，该交易仍凸显了摩洛哥博彩市场的分化。

实体博彩能够吸引国际投资。Cirsa于去年11月扩大了其在马拉喀什的业务布局。而私营在线博彩则没有相应的牌照申请途径。

Cirsa自己的IPO招股说明书对此直言不讳：谈及摩洛哥时，招股书称"在线博彩仅存在于体育投注领域，且由国家机构运营"，并补充说在线赌场游戏"不被允许"。

突尼斯和埃及也存在同样的分化。这些国家的政府侧重于禁止和执法，而非向私营运营商开放在线市场。

摩洛哥转向法院封堵离岸博彩

摩洛哥的体育博彩，包括在线投注和虚拟赛事，专属于国有公司Marocaine des Jeux et des Sports（MDJS）。该公司90%的股份由国库持有，由体育部长担任董事长。

据报道，其独家经营权依据2016年与国家签订的一份未公开协议，有效期至2036年。商业运营通过招标管理合同而非牌照进行。根据刑法第282至285条，未经授权的博彩场所和彩票属于刑事犯罪。

MDJS已转向法院挑战离岸博彩。1月12日，卡萨布兰卡商事法院在简易程序中裁定，命令Maroc Telecom、Orange Maroc和Inwi屏蔽19个指定博彩网站及本地支付中介。不遵守规定者每日罚款10,000迪拉姆。

Medias24报道了法官的推理："互联网接入提供商在技术上是唯一能够终止因访问未经授权博彩网站而产生的明显非法干扰的当事方。"

该命令昙花一现。商事上诉法院于1月26日批准暂缓执行。据Medias24于2月12日的报道，法院随后撤销了该命令并驳回了MDJS的诉求，终止了每日罚款。MDJS仍可上诉。

此次诉讼正值MDJS就离岸博彩的财务影响发出警告之际。总经理Younes El Mechrafi在12月向议会体育论坛表示，非法体育博彩投注额在2024年达到约35亿迪拉姆。他估计国家因此损失约7亿迪拉姆，分别涉及国家体育发展基金和国库。

突尼斯讨论在线博彩却未发放牌照

与此同时，突尼斯博彩法以1974年10月的第74-20号法令为基础。唯一合法的体育博彩渠道是国有企业Promosport。同注分彩赛马投注由突尼斯团结署管理。

议会目前正在审议两种相互竞争的在线博彩方案。但两者均未产生牌照框架。

一项议员私人法案2026/009于1月20日由23名议员提出，并于1月29日提交一般立法委员会。该法案将修订1974年法令，禁止所有在线博彩，并要求互联网和支付服务提供商予以屏蔽。

推动该措施的议员之一Yasser Gourari告诉Diwan FM，该法案规定罚款10,000至500,000迪拉姆，以及一至五年监禁。累犯、涉及未成年人或涉嫌洗钱的情况下，处罚加重。

他将在线博彩和投注描述为"社会祸害"。他说，有些人"在反复亏损和财务困难之后，被逼至绝望，有时甚至考虑自杀"。

法案此后陷入停滞

委员会于2月3日审议了该法案一次，此后未采取进一步行动。

与此同时，政府一直在通过一项新法案来处理该问题。体育部长Sadok Mourali在2024年11月表示，一项博彩和体育投注法案已分发征求意见。26家公共机构收到了该征求意见稿，包括中央银行、竞争委员会和金融情报机构。

一年后，他表示该草案已被完全修订，以使其符合关于操纵体育投注和洗钱的国际标准。

该文本尚未公布。目前尚不清楚它是否会允许向私营运营商发放牌照，还是仅仅将Promosport的垄断现代化。Mourali在2025年11月告诉议会委员会，新法律将数字化体育博彩。

埃及在立法停滞之际转向执法

埃及的博彩规则是围绕实体场所制定的。2022年第8号法律规定"博彩游戏不得在场所内进行，除非由非埃及人操作"。在线投注不存在牌照框架。

2024年10月，时任总检察长下令冻结电子钱包并暂停博彩代理使用的手机线路。另外，今年2月，官员表示监管机构正与电信管理局和媒体委员会合作，争取在当月底前屏蔽约80%的博彩应用程序。

众议院通信委员会主席Ahmed Badawi在5月表示，政府将修订反网络犯罪法，明确列明在线博彩。最严重的罪行讨论了终身监禁。尚未公布法案编号或文本。

议员Martha Mahrous于2025年1月另行提出了一项议员私人法案。该法案提议对推广者、代理和支付服务提供者处以二至五年监禁和数百万埃及镑罚款。该法案同样无疾而终。

议会于7月22日休会，共通过162项法律，无一涉及博彩。埃及新闻媒体Al-Watan报道称，截至8月17日，电子博彩仍在委员会待讨论的文件之列，与网络犯罪修正案分开列出。众议院将于10月1日复会。

两项法案均未开辟向私营在线博彩发放牌照的途径。埃及转而采取日益严厉的执法模式。

北非的牌照空白持续存在

这三个市场通过不同路径达到了同一节点。摩洛哥有现有企业通过法院捍卫其独家经营权，迄今未获成功。

突尼斯有相互竞争的禁止或监管在线博彩的法案，两者均未取得进展。埃及则依赖执法措施。

在这三个国家，私营在线博彩都没有牌照申请途径。各国政府正通过屏蔽、禁止和刑事执法来应对离岸需求。

与实体博彩的对比十分鲜明。摩洛哥和埃及的赌场在公认的框架内运营，且在摩洛哥还能吸引国际投资。私营在线博彩仍处于合法市场之外。

该无牌市场的规模尚不清楚。MDJS自己估计的每年约35亿迪拉姆是唯一可用的数据。突尼斯或埃及没有可比的公开估算。

在没有牌照途径的情况下，这些市场仍然难以衡量、征税或监管。屏蔽和刑事定罪可能会扰乱运营商，但并不能消除需求。各国政府只能试图压制离岸博彩，而非将其纳入受监管的市场。