The Anjouan gaming licence in 2026: price, process and the questions to ask first

Anjouan at a glance

Anjouan is one of the three islands of the Union of the Comoros, in the Indian Ocean between Mozambique and Madagascar. It issues Internet Gaming Licences under the Anjouan Computer Gaming Licensing Act 2005, supervised by the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority (AOFA) and administered by Anjouan Licensing Services Inc. (ALSI).

Key facts from the Anjouan Gaming website

Who actually grants the licence

The authority is the Anjouan Offshore Finance Authority; licence administration is delegated to Anjouan Licensing Services Inc., which the authority describes as the sole authorised administrator and official representative of the Gaming Board. Industry guides date ALSI’s role to May 2023.

The island’s power to license rests on the 2001 Constitution of the Union of the Comoros, which gives the autonomous islands legislative authority over defined internal and economic matters. Whether an island-level body can license internet gaming for the whole world has been questioned publicly, and the authority answers the point directly: it cites an independent legal opinion issued on 19 September 2024 and reconfirmed in February 2026 by a law firm regulated in England and Wales and in Quebec, stating that the AOFA is the lawful regulator and that licences under the 2005 Act are valid. It also notes that the Comoros joined the World Trade Organization on 21 August 2024 as its 165th member.

Operators should read both halves of that message. The authority presents a documented legal position; counterparties such as banks and studios still make their own judgement.

The fee schedule, and why numbers online disagree

The Anjouan Gaming fees page lists €17,828 for issuance and €17,828 for each annual renewal, identical for B2C and B2B, plus €500 for each additional domain on a B2C licence. All fees are payable in euros and application fees are non-refundable.

Fee schedule published by Anjouan Gaming, checked September 2026

You will find other figures elsewhere. Some licensing agents advertise monthly instalment plans from about €1,000 a month or quote a lower renewal, and older articles from 2024 cite application and annual fees around €2,000 and €15,000. Those are packages or historical prices from third parties; the authority’s own page is the reference, and it says fee schedules are reviewed periodically.

What else sits in the first-year budget

• An Anjouan International Business Company, or recognition of a foreign company, with registered agent and office.
• Key person authorisation for directors and designated roles, including a compliance officer for AML/CTF.
• Legal drafting of AML, KYC, responsible gaming, complaints and terms-and-conditions documents.
• An approved alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider, whose costs the operator bears.
• RNG and game certification from an independent testing laboratory.

From application to certificate

The authority describes four stages: submission, review of applicant information, regulatory due diligence and issuance. It does not publish a target processing time; licensing agents consistently quote four to six weeks for a complete file, with renewals taking two to four weeks.

1. Submission: application forms, corporate documents (certificate of incorporation, articles, shareholder register, full ownership chain) and the fee.
2. Information review: the authority checks completeness and may ask for clarification.
3. Due diligence: corporate structure review, key person assessment, source of funds verification and sanctions screening. Directors and owners provide ID, proof of address, personal declarations and, if requested, references; the company may need audited accounts and bank references.
4. Issuance: the licence is recorded in the public register. Each certificate carries a licence number and a QR code linking to the verification page, which lists approved domains and the validity period.

The licence runs for one year and is renewed annually. Domains used for real-money play must be approved in advance, and operating on an unapproved domain is a breach of the standard conditions.

Rules you sign up to

Anjouan’s published conditions are lighter than Curaçao’s, but they are not empty. They cover AML, player protection, fair gaming, dispute resolution and ongoing reporting.

• AML/CTF: customer due diligence, transaction monitoring, suspicious activity reporting, record keeping and a designated compliance officer with trained staff.
• Responsible gaming: age verification, self-exclusion, deposit, loss, wager and session limits, and advertising that does not target minors or vulnerable people.
• Player funds: segregation from operating funds, with periodic financial audits possible.
• Complaints: a 30-day internal process, then escalation to an authority-approved ADR provider at the operator’s cost; the provider must be named in the player-facing terms.
• Ownership transparency: disclosure of nominees, trusts and foundations, including arrangements that keep a holder under the 10% notification threshold; source of wealth can be requested for any owner.
• Reporting: quarterly compliance reports (the first-quarter 2026 report was due on 30 April 2026) and notice of material changes, including changes of platform provider.

Reputation: what banks, PSPs and studios say in public

Anjouan is widely described in the industry as a tier-two, entry-level licence. Several licensing guides say it is increasingly accepted by payment providers, aggregators and game studios; the same guides warn that banking and card acquiring are more selective than with Curaçao or Malta and that some counterparties add extra checks or higher fees.

A fair summary of the public discussion in 2025 and 2026: Anjouan gets a brand to market quickly and cheaply, it suits crypto-first and emerging-market projects, and many operators treat it as a stepping stone, planning a move to Curaçao or a market licence once volumes justify it. Markets that license locally, such as the UK, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and the United States, do not recognise it. Whether a particular studio or processor will work with an Anjouan licensee is decided case by case; ask before you sign a platform contract.

The trade-off as it is usually described

Choosing and certifying games for an Anjouan brand

Anjouan requires every RNG used in gaming products to be certified by an approved independent testing facility, and game rules, odds and payout information to be disclosed to players. Laboratories such as GLI, iTech Labs, BMM and eCOGRA issue the certificates operators most often present.

Since July 2025, according to licensing guides, B2B suppliers serving Anjouan operators, including game, platform and payment providers, must hold an Anjouan B2B licence or an approved recognition certificate, reported at about €9,500 a year; the authority keeps a public Recognition Letter Register. That makes one neutral question essential for every provider on the shortlist, including any aggregator: which Anjouan B2B licence or recognition letter do you hold, and which game certificates can you supply?

Studio policy is the other filter. Providers such as Pragmatic Play, Evolution, Hacksaw Gaming, BGaming, Spribe and PG Soft each maintain their own lists of restricted countries and acceptable licences. Through a casino game aggregator API that exposes per-game metadata (studio, category, currencies, market), a lobby can be filtered automatically so that only titles cleared for a player’s country appear, and a country parameter at launch enforces studio restrictions.

SoftAggregator connects slots, crash games, live casino tables and a sportsbook API through one integration and one seamless wallet, with 40,000+ games from 200+ providers. Operators choose between per-player currencies and a site locked to a single currency, and free demos launch separately through getGameDemo. Catalogue and currencies change continuously; the live list is in the API.

Anjouan, Curaçao or Tobique?

Anjouan is cheapest to enter, Curaçao is easiest to defend with banks, and Tobique sits between them on price. The comparison below uses each regulator’s or its administrator’s published figures where they exist, all checked in September 2026.

Three entry-level and mid-tier options compared

For the detail on the other two, see our Curaçao licence plan and the Tobique Gaming Commission guide. This guide is general information, not legal advice; use local counsel before committing to a structure.

Questions operators ask before choosing Anjouan

Sources and date of review

Everything official on this page comes from the Anjouan Gaming website (fees, licence types, conditions, standards, legal framework and news). Processing times, the supplier recognition fee and reputation comments come from licensing guides and trade press, and are labelled as such.

• Anjouan Gaming, Fees page and Licence Types page, checked 24 September 2026
• Anjouan Gaming, International Cooperation and Regulatory Recognition page (legal opinion of 19 September 2024, reconfirmed February 2026; Comoros WTO accession 21 August 2024)
• Anjouan Gaming, Licence Conditions, Regulatory Standards, Responsible Gaming and Authorized ADR Providers pages, checked September 2026
• Anjouan Gaming news, “More Than 1,650 Licences Issued”, 14 July 2026
• Anjouan Computer Gaming Licensing Act 2005 and related 2005 statutes, as listed by the authority
• Licensing adviser guides on processing times, B2B recognition certificates (July 2025) and market acceptance, published 2025–2026

Last reviewed: 24 September 2026.