15th October 2026
Executive Summary
Online gambling is increasingly embedded in African political and economic life, creating financial interests that span governments, sporting institutions, and digital businesses. Mobile technology, aggressive promotion, and the appeal of quick financial returns are sustaining the industry’s growth, particularly among consumers facing economic pressures. Evidence of gambling-related financial harm is becoming more visible, yet governments face competing incentives to protect public welfare and preserve revenue from a growing commercial sector. As gambling companies strengthen their relationships with public institutions and professional sport, restrictions on their activities will become increasingly contentious. Governments are likely to favour tighter supervision while protecting licensed markets, raising questions about the independence of institutions that regulate an industry from which they increasingly benefit.
On 26 August, the Nigeria Premier Football League (NPFL) announced a three-year sponsorship agreement worth USD 7.5 million with gambling-sector investor EuroMatch, providing approximately USD 2.5 million annually, with 60 percent allocated to its 20 clubs. The agreement ended a prolonged period without a comparable league sponsor and provided much-needed financing for club operations and player welfare. It also established a direct commercial relationship between Nigeria’s leading football competition and the gambling industry. Similar arrangements have become established elsewhere, including Betway’s sponsorship of South Africa’s Premier Soccer League (PSL). These partnerships reflect the growing financial importance of gambling companies to sporting institutions, whose commercial interests are increasingly tied to the industry’s continued expansion. Restrictions on gambling advertising and sponsorship could consequently affect organisations with considerable public visibility and political influence.
The industry’s expanding financial reach is supported by a rapidly growing digital consumer market. Super Group, the parent company of Betway and Spin, reported African revenue of USD 310 million in the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 36 percent year on year. Online casino and interactive gaming generated USD 202 million, compared with USD 108 million from sports betting. These figures reflect the growing commercial importance of rapid-play games, including digital slots and crash-style products such as Aviator, which allow repeated participation throughout the day. A July 2026 GeoPoll survey of 2,866 respondents across six African countries found that 95 percent of surveyed bettors used mobile devices, while 55 percent gambled at least weekly. Smartphones and digital payments have made gambling increasingly accessible, allowing operators to reach consumers through relatively small transactions and continuous online engagement.
This expansion is closely connected to the appeal of gambling among consumers seeking additional income. Research among unemployed young men in Zimbabwe found that some participants approached sports betting as an informal income-generating activity, investing time in analysing matches and developing betting strategies. The commercial appeal of potentially large returns from small stakes is particularly relevant where stable employment and other income opportunities remain limited. However, the financial consequences can spill over into household spending. A May 2026 survey of 1,028 South African online gamblers by Yazi Research found that 57 percent reported sacrificing essential expenses to gamble, while 29 percent had borrowed money for betting. Despite these experiences, 72 percent considered themselves in control of their gambling. The findings suggest that financial pressure and confidence in personal betting decisions can coexist, sustaining participation even among consumers experiencing losses.
Gambling companies and online promoters have developed extensive marketing networks around these financial aspirations. An April 2026 Nigerian study examined 5,467 betting selections promoted by three influencers through X and Telegram, involving approximately USD 4.8 million in tracked stakes. Only 10.39 percent of the selections were successful, producing negative returns of 25.24 percent on recorded stakes. Yet the visibility of successful predictions can reinforce perceptions that betting knowledge provides a reliable opportunity to earn money. In Senegal, Observatoire Polaris examined 115 gambling-related online publications between May and June and found that more than half involved direct promotion, including bonuses, discount codes and promises of rapid winnings. These practices have created commercial opportunities for influencers, affiliate marketers and digital advertisers whose earnings can depend on attracting customers and encouraging continued participation. The public presentation of financial success can therefore obscure losses across a broader record of betting activity.
The expansion of gambling is also creating a wider network of commercial beneficiaries. Football sponsorship gives operators access to established audiences while providing clubs and sporting associations with financing that can be difficult to secure elsewhere. Advertising agencies, media platforms and payment providers benefit from the commercial activity surrounding digital gambling, while international operators are strengthening their African businesses. These relationships give organisations outside the gambling industry a direct interest in its commercial performance. Football administrators may support stronger consumer protections while opposing advertising restrictions that threaten sponsorship income. Similarly, businesses providing marketing and payment services have incentives to preserve access to gambling customers. As these relationships deepen, decisions about gambling regulation increasingly affect the commercial interests of institutions with established connections to governments, sporting bodies and consumers.
Governments face their own competing political incentives. Ghana abolished its 10 percent withholding tax on betting winnings in April 2025, fulfilling an electoral commitment by President John Dramani Mahama’s National Democratic Congress (NDC). The decision reflected the political sensitivity of taxing gambling proceeds among consumers already facing economic pressures. Kenya has pursued tighter oversight, introducing restrictions on gambling advertisements, promotional claims and marketing directed towards minors, while maintaining a 5 percent excise duty on deposits into betting wallets. Senegal has introduced additional taxes on gambling operators and winnings as part of its wider revenue mobilisation efforts. These approaches reflect different calculations about public revenue, consumer popularity, and social protection. They also show how gambling policy is increasingly tied to electoral commitments and the financial interests of licensed operators.
South Africa’s gambling gross revenue, representing stakes less winnings paid to customers, reached approximately USD 4.5 billion during the 2024/25 financial year, with online and retail betting accounting for around 70 percent. National Treasury has proposed an additional 20 percent tax on online gambling revenue, potentially generating approximately USD 600 million annually alongside existing provincial gambling taxes. The proposal comes as demand for gambling-related treatment increases. The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation reported that the number of people receiving treatment rose from approximately 2,600 in 2024 to more than 4,600 in 2025. Licensed operators have opposed higher taxation, arguing that additional costs could strengthen unlicensed competitors. The government therefore faces pressure to address gambling-related harm while protecting tax receipts and maintaining a commercially viable regulated market.
The industry’s digital structure is also complicating regulatory authority. Online operators can reach customers across jurisdictions through mobile applications, payment networks and social-media platforms, while national gambling laws remain fragmented. In Nigeria, the Supreme Court’s November 2024 ruling established state authority over gambling regulation, creating disputes over the supervision of operators serving customers across state boundaries. South Africa permits licensed online sports betting while retaining restrictions on remote casino-style gambling, despite the expansion of digital products offering similar consumer experiences. These arrangements complicate enforcement and create opportunities for unlicensed operators to compete with regulated businesses. Governments increasingly require cooperation among gambling regulators, financial institutions, and telecommunications authorities to monitor transactions, enforce advertising restrictions, and prevent unauthorised services from reaching domestic consumers.
Regulatory transparency has struggled to keep pace with the industry’s commercial development. A 2023 study found that gambling authorities in 36 of 41 regulated Sub-Saharan African markets published no activity reports during the period examined, limiting independent scrutiny of licensing, enforcement, and consumer protection. Although regulatory frameworks have since changed in several countries, comparable information on complaints, penalties, and harmful gambling remains uneven. Industry associations have become increasingly active in policy debates, particularly over taxation and illegal competition, while consumer-protection organisations face the challenge of documenting harm across rapidly expanding digital markets. Governments are likely to concentrate on advertising restrictions, licensing and measures targeting harmful behaviour while preserving revenue-generating legal markets. The growing influence of commercial stakeholders will make transparency over regulatory decisions and enforcement increasingly important.
The industry’s financial relationships are particularly revealing within the institutions that oversee its activities. In Côte d’Ivoire, 80 percent of online gambling tax receipts are allocated to the national budget, 15 percent to sports authorities and 5 percent to the gambling regulator. Senegal’s state-owned Loterie Nationale Sénégalaise (LONASE) is expanding its mobile gambling services while operating within the country’s gambling governance arrangements. Meanwhile, South Africa’s principal responsible-gambling programme relies on industry contributions capped at 0.1 percent of gross gambling revenue to finance treatment and awareness initiatives. These arrangements provide resources for legitimate public functions but also link institutional funding to the industry’s commercial performance. Authorities responsible for protecting consumers therefore operate within systems that financially benefit from continued gambling activity. Measures that successfully reduce harmful participation could also affect revenues that support public programmes and oversight, creating an increasingly difficult institutional conflict over how far the industry can expand.