Unregulated Gambling Leaves 215 Million Africans at Risk, Study Warns

Africa’s 215 million online gamblers are largely unprotected. That is the central public-health and consumer-safety finding buried inside a new continent-wide study, and it carries consequences that extend well beyond the gaming industry itself.

The report, published by Gaming Compliance International, puts hard numbers to a problem that regulators have long suspected but struggled to quantify. Africa’s online gaming market generated 23 billion dollars in gross gaming revenue during 2025. Only 5.2 billion dollars of that came from regulated operators. The remaining 17.8 billion dollars flowed through unregulated channels, platforms where consumer protections barely exist and where governments collect nothing. The estimated tax shortfall alone reaches 3.55 billion dollars, revenue that could otherwise support healthcare, education, infrastructure and digital transformation across the continent.

Consumer exposure to unregulated platforms sits at 89 percent. That figure has barely moved despite marginal improvements in public awareness of licensed alternatives. In practical terms, nine out of every ten African gamblers who place a bet online are doing so with no meaningful recourse if something goes wrong.

The scale of the unregulated sector is growing, not shrinking. Between 2024 and 2025, the number of unlicensed operators actively targeting African consumers rose from 3,644 to 4,129. The regulated market did expand by 800 million dollars over the same period, but the unregulated market expanded faster. Total consumer participation climbed from 198 million to 215 million people, representing 14 percent of the continent’s population.

Matt Holt, Chief Executive Officer of Gaming Compliance International, argues the data should be read as a call to action rather than a counsel of despair. “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,” Holt said. “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.”

The report challenges how regulators define success. Counting licenses issued or enforcement actions taken is not enough. The real question is whether citizens are choosing to participate in regulated markets. That reframing matters because the appetite for online betting is already there. The challenge is structural.

Tax policies that become too burdensome push both consumers and operators toward unregulated alternatives. Equally important, the modern gaming ecosystem extends far beyond licensed operators. Consumers discover betting platforms through search engines, affiliate websites, streaming services, app stores, payment providers and social media. Effective regulation, the report argues, must address this entire digital ecosystem rather than focusing narrowly on licensed operators.

Several African jurisdictions have already shown that evidence-based regulation can shift market behavior. Improved policy clarity, streamlined licensing frameworks and enhanced cross-border regulatory coordination have begun to move the needle in those countries, even as the total market continues expanding. That progress suggests the problem is not insurmountable.

Ismail Vali, President of Gaming Compliance International, frames the core challenge in terms of public outcomes. “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,” Vali said.

Across the continent, regulators are increasingly collaborating across borders, sharing intelligence and adopting approaches that balance enforcement with market competitiveness. The consumer base and the digital infrastructure already exist. What remains open is whether governments and regulators can accelerate that coordination quickly enough to bring the 17.8 billion dollars in unregulated activity, and the 89 percent of consumers currently exposed to it, inside a framework that actually protects them.