Most popular sports among Ghanian bettors
The reason most sportsbooks focus on one or two sports is that, frankly, the majority of online punters bet on either football, horse racing, or other such popular options. With that in mind, many of the top betting sites in Ghana chose to specialise in these categories.
If you’re one such punter, we’ll help you out by singling out the best Ghanian betting sites for the most popular sports in Ghana. According to our research, these include football, rugby, and athletics.
The best football betting site in Ghana
1xBet Africa. We have a lot of experience with online wagering. And it seems to us that, no matter where you’re from in the world, 1xBet is one of the best choices you can make for football betting. It’s quite simple – their ridiculously low margins on football bets are what allows them to be so far ahead of the competition. 1xBet offers by far the best odds for football betting in Ghana, and it would be tough to recommend anyone else.
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The best rugby betting site in Ghana
Betwinner Africa. Rugby is rapidly growing in popularity throughout Ghana. If you’re a fan of this sport, Betwinner is probably the best site for your betting needs. We would especially like to point out the Market Maker feature, which works well for rugby.
Welcome Offer 100% up to $100
The best sportsbook to bet on athletics in Ghana
Bet365 Africa. This choice was a bit harder because this category is not as popular in the rest of the world, but we feel that Bet365’s offer is on par with their other sports. Which is to say – it is excellent.
Welcome Offer 100% up to $30
History of Sports Betting in Ghana
Sports betting dates back for as far as anyone can remember, but its early forms are relatively unknown. Archaeologists seem to agree that the ancient peoples of Africa enjoyed it just as much as everyone. Even though figures through history tried to ban this form of entertainment, it remained a constant social phenomenon. The same applies to Ghanian sports betting.
Even though gambling in Ghana was not properly regulated for much of the 20th century, it remained present and slowly grew in popularity. Lotteries and casinos are noted for being more popular than sports betting for most of this time – that is until online bookmakers first appeared.
As mentioned near the top of this page, gambling providers these days are almost always huge, international conglomerates. Most of them are already established throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. However, Africa was a bit trickier because of political instability, and problems with getting access to reliable internet frameworks. However, Ghana stood out as a good place to gain a foothold in the African betting market.
Even though connectivity remains an issue to this day, recent years have seen an explosion of online gambling in Ghana. Once one or two big players in the industry moved in, the rest followed, resulting in the considerable number of choices Ghanians have today. Mobile betting in Ghana is especially prevalent these days, following the rapid increase in smartphone availability.
Complete list of Bookmakers in Ghana
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Great betting site in Ghana
Daily bonuses and freespins
1xbet Ghana: Professional punters across the globe stress one thing as being by far the most important feature for sportsbooks: the odds. If you agree with this line of thinking, then 1xBet is the bookie for you. The all-round top Ghainan betting site in terms of odds alone, making profits from betting is what 1xBet is all about.
Bet365 Ghana: Bet365 is one of the brand names that led online betting to become the gigantic industry it is today. Possibly one of the most well-known brands of online bookies in Ghana, Bet365 has something to offer to everyone and is a safe choice if you’re not sure which sportsbook to pick.
22bet Ghana: This is another internationally renowned betting site, and it has the quality to prove it. They boast a particularly wide variety of different sports, promotions, and betting opportunities. All in all, this Ghanian betting site provides its customers with a lot of freedom of choice, which can be very valuable if you know how to use it.
Betwinner Ghana: This is a relatively new betting site in Ghana, seeing how it only first opened for business in 2018. However, they are already being compared to some of the biggest operators in the world, and they achieved this through a robust, quality betting offer. Betwinner provides a fresh take on what a betting site should look like, and this approach is welcomed by many.
888sports Ghana: This sportsbook appeared on the betting scene in Ghana only recently, but they have been getting a lot of attention. It’s a trustworthy, reliable betting site with a lot to offer, especially for beginner bettors. Their offer of other online gambling services such as casinos is also noteworthy if that’s what you’re interested in.
Online Sports Betting in Ghana: Tax and Legal Terms
Part of what made Ghana such a welcoming place for all these international gambling companies are the lenient gambling laws. So, if you’re asking “is online sports betting legal in Ghana?”, the answer is a resounding yes.
From a legal perspective, this is what you, the customer, need to be aware of before placing any online wagers.
- Gambling, including online gambling, is legal for everyone over the age of 18.
- Ghanian bookmakers need to be licenced by the Ghana Gaming Commission to operate legally in the country.
- There is no tax on winnings for Ghanian bettors.
Much of the gambling legislation in Ghana is covered by the Gaming Act of 2006. This bill covers the legal obligations of gambling operators in Ghana in terms of how they are allowed to do business, how their profits are taxed, etc. However, it is important to note what a poor job this piece of legislation does in terms of covering online gambling. Simply put, it does not refer to remote gambling in almost any way.
As a result, the majority of offshore bookmakers in Ghana are not licenced or overseen by the government’s Commission. On one hand, the bad part about this is that most of them don’t pay taxes as a result. On the other, it’s one of the main reasons why so many international brands accept Ghanian customers. Generally speaking, Ghanaians can register with and use these unlicensed operators without any worries.
This state of things brings up customer protection – one of the main benefits of proper licencing – as an issue. However, the GGC is not the only regulative bodies. Legitimate betting sites in Ghana still have to be licenced by the regulative bodies of countries they are based in. These often include Malta, Gibraltar, and the respected United Kingdom Gambling Commission.
All of the recommended Ghanian bookmakers we listed on this page are respectable, trustworthy, and have solid reputations as professional gambling operators. This means that, whether these sites are licenced by the GGC or not, you can rest assured that your money is safe with them.
Deposit and Withdrawal options at Ghanian sportsbooks
There is one major issue when it comes to payment options on betting sites in Ghana, and you probably noticed it on the list above: very few bookmakers accept cedi as a currency. With that in mind, here is some advice for how you might deal with this.
Credit and debit cards like Visa and Mastercard remain the most popular options. The problem with this is that you have to use your bank’s conversion rates to bigger currencies such as US dollars or Euros. And the ones banks offer are usually fairly bad. Of course, this only comes into play for bigger amounts.
As such, we recommend e-wallets as a reliable alternative. Skrill and Neteller are accepted by almost all reliable betting sites in Ghana, and both accept Ghanian customers. Sadly, PayPal is not available for Ghanian residents as of the writing of this article, which is another reason to turn to Skrill or Neteller.
Additionally, MTN and Airtel are great options for payment methods in Ghana. However, they are not as widespread among bookies yet, so be careful which site you pick if you want to use these.
Best Betting Site in Ghana
If we were to choose just one bookmaker that operates in Ghana that would be, hands down, 1xbet.