Casinos in Ghana

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Introduction

Ghana is a country in West Africa with a population of about 30 million people. The capital city, Accra, is an international melting pot of culture and languages. Walking through the many open markets, you’re just as likely to hear native dialects like Twi or Ga as you are to catch conversations in Spanish, Chinese, or even Dutch. Of course, you will hear plenty of chatter in English as well since it is the country’s official language and is used in media, government documents, education, and just about everywhere.

Ghanaians take pride in their independence. Ghana was the first sub-Saharan country to free itself from European colonization back in 1957. The nation operates under its 1992 constitution today, but all is not roses in the land of gold. Economic problems and political instability have led many citizens to think politicians are more focused on maintaining their power than addressing real issues in the country.

The problem goes back further than the pandemic era and some of them are more exacerbated today perhaps because of the troubles the health emergency caused. Today, Ghana faces a very difficult financial situation and is classified as one of the heavily indebted poor countries. With an average annual income of $2,340, it falls into the lower-middle-income category.

While Ghana is a natural geographically and geologically for tourism, it’s simply not safe for most people to visit. However, for experienced travelers who can plan their trip well, the country offers boundless opportunities.

Gambling in Ghana

Gambling regulations have been in place in Ghana since the 1960s. Over the years, the industry has morphed and changed. There used to be several decent casinos in Ghana’s capital city, Accra. Other cities like Kumasi and Tema had plenty of casinos, sportsbooks, and lottery outlets. Some towns, like Sekondi, Tamale, and Cape Coast were pretty much free of casinos or they were so small and insignificant they didn’t even appear in world casino inventories.

That’s not the case now, many casinos have shut down or disappeared off the map altogether. Millionaires Casino was a popular franchise in Ghana but the brand seems to have all but vanished. Recently its website and social media accounts have gone silent. With that being said, other forms of gambling, like sports betting and lotteries, don’t seem to have been affected.

New gaming halls attracting local residents could have popped up in the vacuum. In fact, it’s almost certain but they seem to be secretive and not designed for outside visitors. We don’t find any recent change in the law that would prevent them from operating. And of course, any snapshot in time is only that, a snapshot. Some of the casinos may still be in operation but have simply stopped promoting themselves to a wider audience.

The government has worked on gambling regulation, most notably by creating the National Lottery Authority (NLA) in 2007 to oversee the lottery system. The NLA runs several lottery games and has even branched into sports betting through products like Soccer Cash. However, not everybody is happy with the way things are going in that realm with the Ghana Lotto Operators Association having criticized the NLA, saying it hasn’t done enough to regulate the industry properly.

Legal Framework Successes and Pitfalls

Ghana’s gambling laws have gone through some changes and problems have been addressed to some degree but the regulatory framework still has shortfalls. The main law that governs gambling is the Gaming Act of 2006. While the act sets basic rules, it fails to address issues that more modern regulations deal with specifically. Some areas where the law is lacking include consumer protection, security/surveillance, and the licensing of casino employees. With no robust framework or oversight, “best practices” are often left up to operators so enforcement actions are handled unevenly when they happen at all.

The Gaming Commission of Ghana handles licensing and regulation but even it has run into trouble with being a reliable source of information. The official website has gone down several times and is not accessible as of the time of this writing. Incontinuity like that points to a larger administrative problem and indicates there are other issues affecting gambling regulation in Ghana.

Online gambling is even more of a sticky wicket. According to World Bank data, Internet usage in the country has grown swiftly with over 68% of the population online by 2021. Despite the growth, there aren’t any clear laws related to gambling online.

The Casinos of Ghana

Accra has always hosted the most casinos but they are hard to come by from the outside looking in these days. Le Palm Casino, located at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel, and Piccadilly Casino in the Osu district are two of the remaining venues. They offer a mix of slot machines, table games like blackjack, and even electronic roulette. Sports betting is also popular, with Ladbrokes providing retail and online services at Le Palm Casino according to the Business Ghana website.

There are most likely casinos operating outside of Accra. Tema is or was home to both the Golden Dragon and Casino Crown. Kumasi, the second-largest city in Ghana, is or was home to Millionaires Casino in the Golden Tulip Hotel complex. While smaller than Accra’s casinos, it’s been a popular spot for visitors close to the Kumasi Royal Golf Course.

Regular casinos with slots and tables casinos seem to be struggling but sports betting is still very popular. Online and retail outlets let gamblers in Ghana place bets on football and other sports. Bingo and lottery games are popular, with the NLA offering several lottery games.

Conclusion

If Ghana wants its gambling industry to succeed it might need to overhaul its regulatory framework and perhaps subsidize advertising to at least maintain a viable set list of operating casinos on the internet. Clear laws covering online gambling, consumer protections, and better oversight seem to be lacking. The Gaming Commission of Ghana needs to make sure that it shares consistent and transparent information on regulation since lapses in simply providing a website with consistent uptime seem to be too much for administrators at his point.

Gambling could contribute much more to the country’s economy, but it will take political will to make that happen. While the industry might seem unimportant to those not involved in it, it can be seen as a sort of canary in the coal mine or at the very least an indicator of the dysfunction of a government that many residents see as being more concerned with staying in power than doing anything for the people.