An estimated USD 17.8 billion, which constitutes up to 77 percent of Africa’s USD 23 billion online gambling market, flowed through unregulated operators in 2025. Only USD5.2 billion, or 23 percent, was generated through licensed operators.
Gaming Compliance International’s recently released Online Gaming 2024–2025: Africa report has exposed a parallel gambling economy operating on a scale governments can no longer ignore.
The report estimates that more than 4,100 unregulated operators are targeting African consumers, with approximately 215 million Africans engaging with online gambling. Even more alarming, 89 percent of gambling-related audience exposure is associated with unregulated operators.
For governments, the price is substantial and extends beyond gambling, as GCI estimates that African countries could be losing USD 4.45 billion annually in forgone tax revenue. Botswana not spurred.
Botswana offers a telling local illustration of the wider problem, as the country’s regulated gambling market was projected to surpass P1 billion in Gross Gambling Revenue by March 2026, underlining the sector’s rapid growth. Yet the Gambling Authority has previously reported approximately 510,000 cases of Batswana participating in illegal online gambling each month, despite having no licensed operators in that space. The figures show that Botswana, like the wider continent, faces not a lack of gambling demand, but a challenge of where that demand is being channeled.
But the crisis is bigger than lost tax revenue. Consumers gambling through unregulated platforms fall outside local responsible gambling protections, dispute-resolution mechanisms and regulatory oversight.
Excessive taxation, cumbersome licensing processes, limited payment options or restrictions on products can unintentionally push consumers towards operators that pay no local taxes and provide little accountability.
CEO of the Africa iGaming Alliance, Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe, has recently argued that “Africa cannot enforce its way out of the illegal gambling challenge.” Policymakers should ponder this and take it seriously, as Africa cannot enforce its way out of this predicament.
Website blocking, payment restrictions, action against illegal affiliates and tighter advertising controls are necessary, yet technology moves quickly. VPNs, mirror sites, cryptocurrencies and alternative payment channels continue to give consumers ways around regulatory barriers.
Recent discussions within the regional gambling industry point to the same tension. The Association of Gaming Operators Kenya (AGOK) has been actively participating in Africa’s evolving gaming policy debate, including discussions at the 2026 Africa Gaming Expo, with responsible gaming and regulatory oversight high on the agenda.
Regional industry experts have long argued that regulation cannot succeed if the regulated market becomes disconnected from the realities of how consumers gamble.
The harder question, then, is why consumers choose the illegal market.
GCI report suggests the concept of channelisation, which emphasises that the objective of gambling regulation should not simply be licensing operators. Its objective should be to maximise the proportion of gambling activity taking place within the regulated market. Consumers do not necessarily see the distinction between regulated and unregulated operators in the way policymakers do. They respond to convenience, accessibility, price, payment options, product availability and user experience.
If the legal market becomes too expensive, restrictive or cumbersome, consumers will look elsewhere.
GCI identifies four areas that directly affect this competitiveness: customer taxation, operator taxation, payment systems and product availability.
Excessive taxation, cumbersome licensing processes, limited payment options or restrictions on products can unintentionally push consumers towards operators that pay no local taxes and provide little accountability.
GCI’s “Monitor, Police, Enforce and Optimise” (MPEO) framework therefore offers a more balanced approach as it suggests that enforcement must be matched by optimisation. Governments need predictable taxation, transparent licensing, efficient payment systems and practical responsible gambling measures, alongside decisive action against illegal operators.
