Ghana's Legal Betting Age

The seller of legal betting in Ghana must ensure the bettor is 18 and only work on a license from the Commission.

The legal floor

The minimum age for betting in Ghana is 18. The Gaming Act 2006 consolidates gaming law in Ghana and dates back to 22 December 2006 following the assent of the president. It makes clear that a person shall not carry out gaming and betting in Ghana except in accordance with the terms of this Act.

Among its main effects, the Act was to set up the Gaming Commission in Ghana as the betting regulator, with the power to license and supervise the sector. Operators must hold a gaming operator permit before they provide gaming services to players, to comply with the Act.

Who polices betting?

The Gaming Commission is the licensing and supervisory authority. It received its powers and remit from the Gaming Act. All game operators must be licensed by it. So if a company wants to offer gambling or betting in Ghana, it does so only after obtaining a gaming operator permit from the Gaming Commission. And to get that permit, it must agree to comply under the Act, and the Act provides that a person must not carry out gaming and betting in Ghana except in accordance with the terms of the Act.

Laying out this framework under the legal delegation is the Gaming Commission, and the Commission has made clear in its 2025 advertising advisory that gaming advertising shall not be targeted to those under the age of 18. So in sum, the legal gaming age in Ghana is 18, and the Gaming Commission is the regulator who licenses and supervises to ensure companies comply.

How age checks work in practice

See BetRankGH FAQ at https://www.betrankgh.com/faq The exact method varies among platforms. For instance, BETRANKGH lists the Ghana Card among the IDs needed for account registration.

What happens if a minor opens an account

Some operator guidance warn that if an account belongs to someone under the legal gaming age of 18, the winnings can be frozen or the account closed as the bet was not valid. BETRANKGH FAQ at https://www.betrankgh.com/faq. BETRANKGH FAQ at https://www.betrankgh.com/faq.

However, this is the language in a private sector FAQ, not a formal regulation published by the country's gaming regulator, and is therefore governed by private betting platform guidance rather than a primary legal text.

Advertising and access controls

Ghanaian gaming law stipulates that online gaming advertisements shall not be targeted to those under the legal age of 18. For ease of enforcement, operators may restrict access based on age. Legislation states that a person must be at least 18 years of age to be allowed to gamble". To register, bettors must present a valid national ID and other required details, according to the online gaming platforms in Ghana.

The practical takeaway for families

Paragraph deleted, as no authorities on game controls specifically permitted by law were identified during my research