Gaming Compliance International (GCI) is calling for stronger and more comprehensive regulation of online gambling across Africa, warning that the continent’s rapid digital betting growth is outpacing current oversight and leaving consumers and governments exposed to significant risks.
In its latest Africa-focused analysis, GCI describes the online gambling market as one of the continent’s biggest untapped economic opportunities, but stresses that realising this potential depends on robust regulatory frameworks that can effectively supervise the entire market, not just licensed operators.
According to GCI’s data, regulated online gambling revenue in Africa grew from US$4.4 billion in 2024 to US$5.2 billion in 2025, with the share of the market under regulation rising from 22% to 23%. At the same time, the total population accessing online gambling increased from 198 million (13% of the population) in 2024 to 215 million (14%) in 2025.
Despite this growth, unregulated operators continue to dominate the sector. GCI estimates that in 2025, unlicensed online gambling operators captured US$17.8 billion in revenue across the continent, resulting in an estimated US$3.55 billion loss in tax revenue for African governments. The number of unregulated operators targeting African markets also rose, from 3,644 in 2024 to 4,129 in 2025.
GCI argues that the core challenge is not a lack of demand, but the failure to channel that demand into regulated environments where consumers are protected and governments can collect tax and licensing revenues. The report highlights the complexity of Africa’s regulatory landscape, which ranges from outright bans in some countries to recently introduced licensing regimes in others, alongside large grey and black markets that operate across borders with little oversight.
To address these gaps, GCI is urging African regulators and policymakers to focus on four key pillars: comprehensive market-wide regulation, effective enforcement against unlicensed operators, complete regulatory coverage, and the refinement of regulated offerings to keep them attractive and competitive for consumers. It says that targeted improvements in public policy, taxation, payment oversight, product rules and cross-border regulatory cooperation can significantly expand the regulated share of the market and reduce the size of the unregulated sector.
The organisation also points to recent legislative developments, such as Kenya’s Gambling Control Act of 2025, which established a new Gambling Regulatory Authority to oversee all forms of gambling, including online, as an example of the kind of institutional strengthening needed across the continent. GCI maintains that stronger regulation is not just about control, but about “perfecting” the market so that more consumers can participate safely, more local jobs and investment can be created, and more public funds can be mobilised for community development.
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