🇰🇲 Anjouan (Comoros) · Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority (AOFA)

Anjouan (Comoros) Online Gambling Licence — 2026

A low-cost offshore licence that grew after the Curaçao reforms, with separate B2C and B2B categories and a published fee of EUR 17,828 to issue and the same again each year. An emerging regime with a short public enforcement history and materially weaker banking acceptance than Tier 1.

Offshore — Cost-effective, weak supervision

Anjouan is an autonomous island within the Union of the Comoros. It emerged around 2023 and 2024 as the low-cost offshore option, attracting operators displaced by the Curaçao reforms. The published institutional chain has four parts: the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority is the competent regulatory authority, the Anjouan Gaming Board oversees licence administration, Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. is the sole authorised administrator and official representative of the Board, and anjouangaming.com is the public regulatory platform carrying the register and the verification tool. The framework rests on legislation adopted in 2005, including the Anjouan Computer Gaming Licensing Act. The name Anjouan Betting and Gaming Board, which this page used until September 2026, does not appear anywhere on the Authority's site.

The published schedule is EUR 17,828 to issue the licence and EUR 17,828 for each annual renewal, the same figure, with EUR 500 for every additional domain on a B2C licence. The roughly EUR 15,000 renewal quoted almost everywhere, including on this page until September 2026, does not match it. Against Curaçao at about EUR 47,450 a year for a B2C licence the saving is still real, but smaller than the market believes. There is no published minimum capital, no gaming tax, and no resident-staff requirement beyond a local address.

The trade-off is reputational and it is widely described in terms the Authority does not use. Anjouan has a short public enforcement history, and the regulated markets that matter, including the United States, the United Kingdom and the larger EU states, require their own licence, so an Anjouan licence does not reach them. Payment and bank acceptance is the hard part. Advisers report that many operators end up on crypto rails, which we carry as reported practice rather than as something we have measured. It is best read as a fast, low-cost launch or test licence rather than a long-term reputational base.

Quick facts

Regulator	Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority ↗
Tier	Offshore — Cost-effective, weak supervision
Licence types	B2C operator licence (may cover several permitted verticals: online casino, sports betting, poker, bingo, prediction markets and crypto-enabled gaming), B2B service-provider licence (technology or services supplied to licensed operators)
Application cost	EUR 17,828 licence issuance fee, published by the Authority and the same for B2C and B2B; non-refundable regardless of outcome
Annual cost	EUR 17,828 annual renewal, the same as issuance, plus EUR 500 for each additional domain or URL on a B2C licence
Gaming tax	0%
Corporate tax	0% on offshore income (IBC)
Substance	Minimal — registered local address + local representative; no resident staff required
Timeline	No timeframe is published. The Authority says only that processing depends on the completeness of the documentation and the complexity of the due-diligence review; advisers commonly report one to two months, which we carry as reported

Pros

Published fee schedule: EUR 17,828 to issue and EUR 17,828 a year to renew, with no separate application fee on top
Fast application, reported at one to two months
0% gaming tax and 0% corporate tax on offshore income
No resident-staff requirement — only a local address

Cons

Renewal costs the same as issuance, so the recurring saving against Curaçao is smaller than most guides state
Short public enforcement history and limited international recognition
The licence carries no territorial rights: regulated markets require their own licence, and the operator carries the whole market-access burden
Banking and payment acceptance is materially weaker than Tier 1, though we hold the claim that crypto is the only route as adviser-reported rather than measured

Best for

Cost-extreme operators testing a market or in startup phase
Crypto-first operators targeting emerging Asia/Africa/LatAm markets
Operators serving markets that do not require Tier 1 licensing

Legal basis and who actually does what

Anjouan licensing rests on legislation adopted in 2005, including the Anjouan Computer Gaming Licensing Act and the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act 008 of 2005, which sets the anti-money-laundering baseline. The Union of the Comoros does not recognise that chain: its central bank named the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority a fictitious structure on 15 June 2022, and the 2018 Constitution gives the islands no competence over licensing (see our Comoros page). The Authority describes the institutional chain as follows: the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority is the competent regulatory authority, the Anjouan Gaming Board oversees licence administration, and Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. is the sole authorised administrator and official representative of the Board. The published process runs in four stages: submission, review of the applicant information, regulatory due diligence covering corporate structure, key persons, source of funds and sanctions screening, and issuance with entry in the public register. No processing time is published; the Authority says only that it depends on the completeness of the documentation and the complexity of the due diligence. The licensed vehicle is typically a Comoros International Business Company with a local registered address — no resident staff is required — and B2C and B2B are separate licence categories: a B2C licence may cover several permitted verticals, but it does not itself confer B2B supplier rights.

Cost positioning — the cheapest credible licence

The published schedule is EUR 17,828 to issue and EUR 17,828 every year after, plus EUR 500 for each additional domain on a B2C licence, so five years of regulator fees for one licence is EUR 89,140 and a group holding both categories pays double throughout. There is no published minimum capital, no gaming tax and no corporate tax on offshore income. By comparison, post-reform Curaçao costs EUR 47,450 a year for B2C, and up to about EUR 52,000 in regulator fees in year one — the EUR 4,592 application plus the B2C annual fee, charged pro rata from the grant date — before any adviser, staff or premises cost. The saving is real, but it buys a weaker reputation — budget for the banking and payments friction that comes with it.

Market access is the operator's problem, not the licence's

This page previously printed a list of countries as though the Authority prohibited them. It does not publish one. The Authority states that licences contain no territorial restrictions under Anjouan law, that they do not override local prohibitions or regulatory requirements, and that operators remain solely responsible for geo-blocking, market access controls and local compliance. That is a heavier burden than a blacklist, not a lighter one, because nothing is decided for you. Four separate checks apply: the conditions attached to your own licence, the law of each target market, sanctions and financial-crime exposure, and what your banks, payment providers and B2B partners will accept. Markets such as the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia and Austria license gambling locally and require their own authorisation, so they are closed to an Anjouan licensee as such. Many tier-1 payment processors (major Visa/MasterCard acquirers, PayPal, Stripe) decline Anjouan-licensed operators, and banking is the hardest part — even specialist iGaming banks often refuse. Advisers report that most Anjouan operators end up on crypto-payment rails and specialised intermediaries serving emerging Asia, Africa and Latin American markets, which we carry as reported rather than measured.

Application process

Comoros International Business Company formation with a local registered address
Fit-and-proper due diligence on founders/authorised persons (criminal record, bankruptcy, experience)
Application submitted to the Authority with the anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing programme
Review of the applicant information, then regulatory due diligence covering corporate structure, key persons, source of funds and sanctions screening; no processing time is published
Licence granted in the category applied for, B2C or B2B, and recorded in the public register; EUR 17,828 to renew each year thereafter

Operational realities

Capital requirements

No formal capital requirement.

Player protection

Self-exclusion at operator level. No central register. Minimal substantive standards.

Banking & payment processing

The principal practical limitation. Most banks refuse Anjouan iGaming. Crypto-payment is typically the only viable path. Some specialist providers in offshore jurisdictions serve the market.

B2B vs B2C licensing

B2C and B2B are separate Anjouan licence categories at the same fee, each issued and renewed on its own, which is the same split as post-reform Curaçao rather than the opposite of it. A B2C licence may cover several permitted verticals but confers no supplier rights, so a group that both operates and supplies holds two licences and pays EUR 35,656 a year in regulator fees.

Recent developments (2025-2026)

The Authority now publishes a fee schedule, a licence-type breakdown, a public register with a verification tool and a revoked-licence list at anjouangaming.com. Two corrections follow from reading it: renewal is EUR 17,828, the same as issuance, not the roughly EUR 15,000 widely quoted including by this page until September 2026; and B2C and B2B are separate licence categories rather than one licence covering both. The Authority also states that licences carry no territorial restrictions under Anjouan law and that geo-blocking and local compliance rest entirely with the operator.

How it compares

Versus Curaçao: Anjouan is cheaper on the published schedules, EUR 17,828 a year against about EUR 47,450 for a Curaçao B2C licence, and cheaper in the first year, but with a materially weaker reputational position. The Curaçao LOK reform widened the supervisory-rigour gap while narrowing the headline price gap.

Frequently asked questions

How much does an Anjouan gambling licence cost in 2026?

EUR 17,828 to issue and EUR 17,828 for each annual renewal, the same figure, plus EUR 500 for every additional domain on a B2C licence. The roughly EUR 15,000 renewal quoted widely does not match the published schedule. No minimum capital, no gaming tax, no corporate tax on offshore income.

Is Anjouan the cheapest gambling licence?

On recurring cost it is still the lowest of any credible licence at EUR 17,828 a year, below post-reform Curaçao at about EUR 47,450 for a B2C licence, but renewal costs the same as issuance rather than the roughly EUR 15,000 usually quoted. The catch is reputation: weaker payment-processor and bank acceptance, so factor the banking friction into the real cost.

Which countries does an Anjouan licence not cover?

The Authority publishes no restricted-country list and states that licences carry no territorial restrictions under Anjouan law. What closes a market is that market's own law. Locally regulated markets including the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia and Austria require their own licence. Sanctions exposure, and what your payment and banking partners will accept, narrow the map further. Treat market access as four checks you run yourself, not as a list the regulator hands you.

Is Anjouan a real gambling licence?

Under Anjouan law it rests on legislation adopted in 2005 and is administered through the Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority as competent authority, the Anjouan Gaming Board, and Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. as sole authorised administrator, with a public register and a verification tool. Under the Union of the Comoros it does not exist: the Central Bank of the Comoros named the Authority a fictitious structure in a communiqué of 15 June 2022 and no Union body confirms the licence. It also carries no long public enforcement history, no wide international recognition, and locally regulated markets require their own licence regardless.

What law governs gambling licensing in Anjouan?

Legislation adopted in 2005, including the Anjouan Computer Gaming Licensing Act, which authorises internet gaming licensing, and the Money Laundering (Prevention) Act 008 of 2005, which sets the anti-money-laundering baseline.

Compare and define

What a licence costs in Anjouan (Comoros), next to eleven other jurisdictions — application fee, annual renewal, gaming tax and the all-in first-year figure.
How Anjouan (Comoros) compares with 34 other jurisdictions — cost, tax, timeline and reputational tier, grouped by tier.
Anjouan Offshore Financial Authority — The competent regulatory authority for Anjouan internet gaming licences, working through the Anjouan Gaming Board and the administrator ALSI. The name "Anjouan Betting and Gaming Board" does not appear on the Authority's own site. The Central Bank of the Comoros named the AOFA a fictitious structure on 15 June 2022.