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Dike Onwuamaeze

A report has revealed that regulated online gambling revenue rose from $4.4 billion in 2024 to $5.2 billion in 2025 as more African consumers begin to choose licensed, safer online gambling options.

The report, which was released by Gaming Compliance International (GCI) of United States, presented the first ever comprehensive report undertaken of online gambling across all 54 African nations, drawing on two years of audience and activity data across 2024 and 2025.

A press release that was issued on July 21 by the GCI said: “Across Africa’s online gaming marketplaces, revenue going to regulated operators grew from $4.4 billion in 2024 to $5.2 billion in 2025.

“The regulated share of the total online African gaming market rose from 22% to 23%, providing real benefits to commerce, communities and consumers across the continent.”

It noted that Africa is complicated by vastly different regulatory realities across the continent, ranging from entirely prohibited marketplaces to those with recently introduced regulatory frameworks.

GCI said that this is “complicated further by the presence and persistence of the unregulated sector, which seeks to exploit every marketplace regardless of its regulatory conditions.”
According to the report, the percentage of the total population that interacted with online gambling grew from 13 per cent (198 million people) in 2024 to 14 per cent (215 million people) in 2025.
“Demand is not the problem within Africa. The challenge is ensuring that demand is captured within the regulated sector,” the report said.
The report also recognised the size of the challenge facing Africa.
It said: “In 2025, $17.8 billion in online gaming GGR was stolen by unregulated online gambling operators, costing African governments an estimated $3.55 billion in lost tax.
“The number of unregulated operators targeting Africa grew from 3,644 in 2024 to 4,129 in 2025.
“GCI frames these losses as the potential future benefits of marketplace optimisation,” adding that “as market share shifts into the regulated sector, more consumers will be protected, more local jobs and investments will be produced, and more public funding will be available for communities to grow and develop.”
The report stated that regulatory success is reliant on four key components, which are “monitoring the entire online gambling marketplace; policing against unlicensed operators targeting Africa without regulatory oversight; enforcing the integrity of regulation and optimising the regulated sector so that it remains attractive, accessible and competitive for African consumers
It said that small, practical improvements in public policies, taxation, payments, product availability, enforcement and regulatory collaboration could and would encourage results within Africa.
“The purpose of regulation is not only to regulate licensed operators, but to sensibly regulate the entire online gambling marketplace.
“However, the opportunity in Africa is not simply to regulate more. It is to optimise better, and to judge its success based on the outcomes of these objectives,” the report said.
The Chief Executive Officer of GCI, Mr. Matt Holt, said: “For the first time, we can see the whole of Africa’s online gambling market clearly. Nation by nation, across two full years, the picture is encouraging.
“The regulated sector is growing, and in several countries, it is starting to gain ground. That tells us these tools work. Our job is to give regulators a complete and honest view of their own market, so they can build on the progress this data now shows.”
Speaking in the same vein, the President of GCI, Mr. Ismail Vali, said: “Africa’s online gambling marketplaces should not be defined by their challenges.
“They should be defined by their opportunity. Millions of consumers already participate in online betting and gaming, creating substantial economic activity and the potential to deliver sustainable local commerce, public revenues, and safer consumer outcomes. The challenge is not creating demand.

“The challenge is ensuring that demand is captured within the regulated sector.

“Marketplace outcomes are the ultimate measure of regulatory success. The objective is not simply to regulate licensed operators.

“The objective is to optimise the entire online gambling marketplace so that consumers choose to enter, remain within, and benefit from the regulated sector.”