Africa is slowly becoming an iGaming hub on all fronts

Boasting one of the few positive birth rates around the world, a youth centered Africa is adopting well to emerging new technology pushing it at the forefront to become a powerhouse of online sports betting and gaming.

Although some countries such as Kenya shine thanks to their regulatory development in recent years, countries on all four fronts of the continent are pushing to develop a strong African market.

In the south, South Africa boasts the third largest economy on the continent. This translates into a Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) of $2 billion dollars. This makes it the largest and most important hub of sports betting and gaming in the whole of Africa.

Many of the world’s leading suppliers have originated from South Africa and eventually opened offices across Europe, Asia and even the U.S.

This success can be attributed to the higher-than-average internet penetration rate South Africa has. With a rate of 68% South Africa still has a bit of work to do when it comes to regulations but with an ever-growing gaming economy, one can expect things to move faster in the future.

In the East of Africa, Kenya has become the home of numerous online sports betting and gaming operators. Although the internet penetration rate stands at 48%, the 54 million inhabitants of Kenya have developed a subculture of mobile betting and payments through internet cafes.

Kenya has also advanced leaps and bounds when it comes to regulation. Operators like SportPesa, Betway and Mozzartbet are highly active in the Kenyan market. This has attracted the attention of local authorities and it prompted proper regulation of the market.

It is for this reason that Kenya has managed to entice a GGR of $466 million in 2022.

On the western front, countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroon have raked in a GGR just shy of $1,5 billion.

Nigeria, raking in the most attributes this to the immensely young population it has with 43% of its inhabitants being younger than 14 and 53% being between the age of 19 to 64.

This factor has pushed Nigeria to the second biggest gaming markets in Africa. 70 million people in Nigeria are active within this sector and there are no signs of it dwindling down any time soon.

Other young countries like Ghana and Cameroon are also on a rise when it comes to their gaming sectors. This is mainly fueled by their successes in football and other sports.

Finally, in the north, Morocco has stood itself up and managed to grow its gaming economy to $500 million strong. Gambling as an industry is widely accepted in Morocco as this plays a significant role in the youth tourism of the country.

Morocco has very strong ties with Europe and has access to French markets and although online betting is not regulated, payments from the country are still accepted.

Africa is currently experiencing an expansion mindset which has pushed the continent into the future of the gaming industry. Many African operators are expanding beyond their borders and although with such growth comes a number of challenges, Africans are handling the situation.

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