1. Namibia Casino
2. Namibia Gambling Act

Gambling is a legal and regulated industry in Namibia, with the most popular forms of gambling being casino games and lotteries. As Namibia is a relatively young country, its gambling laws were only established in 1994 with the introduction of the Casino and Gambling House Act (Act 32). Namibia officially the Republic of Namibia formerly known as German South-West Africa and then South West Africa is a country in Southern Africa. It shares land borders with Zambia and Angola to the north, Botswana to east South Africa to the south and the eastern Namibia western border is the Atlantic Ocean. The gambling laws in Namibia do not explicitly prohibit the operation of various international bookies in the territory, though they apply to local bookmakers. Whilst there are a sizable number of the latter, they rarely offer solid online betting experiences, and one would typically be forced to visit the brick and mortar shop.

Online gambling operates in a grey area in Namibia. Though gambling laws have been updated in recent years (2017-18), they do not adequately address online gambling. But this also means that there are no laws against betting online. Namibians are therefore free to bet at offshore online casinos and sportsbooks. Summary:This Act (GG 6793) regulates gambling and gambling activities in Namibia. It also establishes the Gambling Board and the Gambling Trust Fund. It repeals the Gambling Act 51 of 1965, the Casinos and Gambling Houses Act 32 of 1994 and the Licensing of Totalisators Ordinance 5 of 1938.

Namibia Casino

Independent Experts Play, Review and Rank the Best Namibia Casinos

Gambling is officially legal in Namibia, but the industry has not exploded like it did has some of the other African countries. The reason: a 10-year moratorium on issuing of licenses imposed by the government. The moratorium was officially lifted in 2006, but there still has not been much growth in terms of the land-based casinos and lotteries. The existing gambling laws, in the form of the Casinos and Gambling Act (1994), are also obsolete in today's world. As a result, there are no online casinos based out of Namibia.

However, more and more players are now signing up with foreign online casino operators to explore the world of the online casino. On this page, we list and review the top online casinos for Namibian players.

Our vision is to provide you with a list of the top online casinos for Namibian players and also review them to enable you to choose the best one. Our standards are high and only those casinos that meet our stringent quality requirements find place on our site. Every casino listed here meets the standards we have for the different criteria – security, interface, customer support, bonuses, games, jackpots, and more.

Namibia Gambling Act

To make it easy for you to find answers to any questions that you may have regarding these casinos or online casinos in general, we have for you an informative FAQ section. This section contains questions that you may generally ask yourself, and also their answers.

We have on board a team of talented and dedicated reviewers and analysts, all with extensive experience in the industry. This team minutely examines numerous casinos on multiple parameters to determine the best ones for Namibian players. Our focused approach enables us to spot new developments in the online casino scene in Namibia easily; that is why we are able to provide you with the latest information on online casinos here as they happen.

Why Use GamblingAfrica.com to Find Your Favourite Namibia Casino?

The answer is as simple as the question: because we are the best when it comes to reviewing and analysing online casinos. When you have a team with over 20 years of collective experience in the online casino industry, examining each casino critically and listing out the best of the lot becomes easy. Our reviewers examine all the critical parameters that go into making a superb online casino:

• Security
• Reliability
• Games
• Promotions
• Jackpots
• Local currency support
• Customer support

That is not all; when you go to an online casino through us, you get exclusive bonuses meant only for GamblingAfrica members and players. It is this attention to detail and concern for our customers that makes us the best in the business.

Featured Online Casino for Namibians - December 2020

We are not only about providing casino lists; every month we feature one online casino that our reviewers determine is the best of the lot for players from Namibia in our Pick of the Month segment. Our pick for this month is the All Slots casino.

Namibia has progressed by leaps and bounds when it comes to mobile phone usage in the past 7-8 years. While an ICT Access and Usage survey in 2007 showed very few people in Namibia had access to the Internet, current numbers indicate a different story. A study in 2012 showed that the number of mobile users in Namibia at that time stood at 2.35 million, with the number of Internet users standing at 550,000. Mobile market penetration in Namibia is also very high, at 110%.

All this means one thing: Namibian players can easily play casino games from their mobile devices now. The major mobile operators in Namibia currently are:

• Leo
• Mobile Telecommunications Co. Ltd.
• Telecom Namibia Ltd.

Namibian players need strong network connectivity, in the form of 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi to be able to play mobile casino games.

GamblingAfrica's featured mobile casino for Namibian players this month is the All Slots casino. It looks good and has a fantastic range of games and promotions for Namibian players. There are 75 games available, including slots (e.g. Break da Bank and Break da Bank Again), video poker (Jacks or Better), table and card games (numerous variations of roulette and blackjack), and also a few spectacular progressive jackpots. Deposit options for Namibian players include credit cards (Visa and MasterCard), NETeller, and Skrill.

When the focus is to provide players with leads to the best online casinos around, the testing has to be naturally very rigorous. All the casinos are tested for the following parameters by our expert review team.

• Security: Every casino we feature must have industry standard encryption technology at the very least to ensure a completely secure playing environment.
• Range of games: All casinos must mandatorily have a good selection of games if they are to feature on our list.
• Welcome bonus: This is a critical feature and needs to be examined thoroughly. We feature only those casinos that offer a good welcome bonus to new players.
• Other bonuses: Our focus is to ensure a good gaming experience always, not just the first time. That is why we make sure that the casinos we feature also have a decent set of promotions for existing players.
• Jackpots: Jackpots are critical because they can potentially change your life. We check all casinos thoroughly for jackpots.
• Deposit methods: Payment method support is another criterion that we examine thoroughly. Only casinos with multiple payment methods get on our featured list.
• Customer support: Customer support is critical for a good casino experience. All casinos we feature have multiple customer support options.

Gambling is legal in Namibia, though there are no clear statutes on online gambling here.

Are there any online casinos based out of Namibia for me to play at?

Unfortunately, there are no online casinos based out of Namibia at this moment. However, you have the option of playing at foreign online casinos.

How old do I have to be to play at an online casino?

You must cross the legal age for gambling to play at an online casino, which is 18 years in Namibia.

Do I have to pay to register with an online casino?

There is no fee involved if you want to register at an online casino, it is free. You have to pay if you want to play real money games and avail casino bonuses.

We test all the casinos we feature stringently for security, so you do not have to worry about it when you play at any of these casinos.

Should I download the casino software to play the games available?

You can download the casino software only if there is no Instant Play option available. The Instant Play option allows you to play directly from a browser.

What is the welcome bonus at the casinos listed on GamblingAfrica?

Different casinos offer different welcome bonuses. Check the Promotions page of these casinos for bonus information.

Can I deposit money into my casino account in Namibian Dollars?

That depends on the casino you are playing at. Most casinos allow local currency usage, which is then converted internally into one of the official currencies.

Can I play the games at online casinos from my mobile phone?

You can play from your mobile phone if the casino has a mobile version and your mobile phone supports gaming.

Being a fan of Sports betting, one would always be curious about the various betting options as they move into a new location. A few years ago when I moved into Namibia from Zimbabwe, I owned 2 online sports booking accounts, Unibet and William Hill. I had tried, without success, to open an account with Bet365 and Betway since they could not operate in Zimbabwe and was equally excited about the opportunity of finally being able to do so. So how did it turn out, well I’m glad you asked as I’ll be explaining my experience in Namibia in this Best Sports Betting blog post.

Namibia sports betting options

The gambling laws in Namibia do not explicitly prohibit the operation of various international bookies in the territory, though they apply to local bookmakers. Whilst there are a sizable number of the latter, they rarely offer solid online betting experiences, and one would typically be forced to visit the brick and mortar shop. On a day where I could not place an online bet with international bookies, my visit to the local shop often resulted in disappointment as not many market options are available (and perhaps bookies want to keep it that way).

The biggest advantage that however came with this move was my ability to register an account with Bet365 which truly offers a remarkable betting choice, live coverage, and features. But not without problems as will be explained later.

The options for sports betting in Namibia include the following:

• Local bookies – Truthfully, the local bookies are very far from international standards. There is only one local bookie, Premier Sports Trading, with an online betting platform that is poor, and one has mostly the choice to make a trip to the shop itself to place bets. Even in such a case, there are also not many sports options to place bets on using these local bookies as often choices are limited to football, 1×2 bets or a few overs and under bets.
• Regional Bookies – Looking into the Southern African bookie pool, there are not many bookies operating in the regional countries that would allow one to open an account whilst in Namibia, although they may, of course, allow one to place bets. South African bookies like World Sports Betting allow for one to open an account using Namibian details. The rest of the major South African bookies such as Hollywoodbets, Gbets, Betway, Sunbet, and others only allow for placing bets whilst in Namibia, provided the owner had been registered in South Africa. The good thing about such is they offer deposits in ZAR, which reduces losses due to currency conversion.
  
• International bookies – The laws, whilst they regulate the local operation of land-based bookies, do not seem to affect international bookies. As such, there is a vast number of offshore International bookies such as Bet365, William Hill, Betway and many others which accept Namibian punters, although limiting the choice of deposits to the use of the USD, GBP or Euro currency in some cases. There is, therefore, a loss when it comes to currency exchange. I have previously tried in vain to make use of local bank cards to make deposits into international bookies such as Bet365 and Unibet, and there appears to be a restriction on the bank. My way around this was to make use of e-wallets (Skrill and Neteller) for making deposits into the bookies, with a few additional fees, however. Skrill deposits became completely banned as Namibia is now one of Skrill’s specified countries.

My luck ran out in the last weeks of February 2020 when Bet365 stopped accepting any deposits using Neteller, limiting me to the options of credit, debit cards or wired transfer only. Bet365 has of late also become notorious also on restricting betting when you are in a country that is NOT your country of registration.

Casinos in Namibia

The local offerings for casinos are mostly limited to visiting a brick and mortar casinos for an assortment of slots and table games whose availability is only limited to three cities. I have not enjoyed their somewhat rigid wagering terms when it comes to roulette. There is however increased visibility of “Jackpot” Bergmann Roulette machines, commonplace around the country.

These, however, have poor variety, and most would prefer the use of international casinos for online gambling. The options, in this case, are very wide, including popular casinos such as William Hill, Genesis Casino, and many others that mostly offer transactions in USD/EUR/GBP. Take note that NetEnt casino games are banned from operating in Namibia, and any access using a Namibian IP address will not be allowed.

How to bet from Namibia

There are a number of betting options that can be pursued by punters in Namibia. I would not recommend local bookies as these have very poor game selection and services. Whilst South African bookies can be accessed and offer the best option if one does not wish to lose the value of money during currency exchange, only a few accept new customer deposits.

A majority will, however, accept bets provided one has an account with them already. International bookies are also very good options – Skrill is not available for use, whilst Neteller may be restricted in some cases. My best advice for those wanting to place sports bets from Namibia is to sign up with a South African bookmaker, rather than an internationally based one!