The regulator of the future will not be defined by licenses issued or fines levied, but by how well it understands, protects and serves the customer.
That was the central message from the CEO of the Gambling Authority Botswana, Moruntshi Kemorwale, during his presentation at the 17th Annual Gaming Regulators Africa Forum (GRAF) Conference at the Joaquim Chissano International Conference Centre in Maputo recently.
The conference, which ran from September 14-17 under the theme “Regulating For Transformation”, brought together regulators, operators and industry stakeholders from across the continent to discuss responsible gambling, player protection and oversight of a rapidly changing digital market.
AI and technology dominated the agenda on opening days, with sessions examining smarter regulation, AI-driven risks and cybersecurity.
Speaking during the high-level regulatory panel, Kemorwale said Africa’s gambling landscape has fundamentally shifted. With 90%+ of activity migrating online, a mobile-first, youthful demographic and an explosion of new products, the traditional compliance-only model is no longer fit for purpose.
“The regulator of the future should be customer-focused,” he told delegates. “Our primary mandate is no longer just to regulate the industry, but to regulate for the people who use the industry. If we lose sight of the customer, we lose the legitimacy of regulation itself.”
Kemorwale outlined three pillars of a customer-focused regulator:
Protection by Design, Not by Reaction-Instead of waiting for complaints or harm to occur, regulators must embed player protection into licensing conditions, product approval and advertising standards from day one;
Frictionless Interaction-He challenged regulators to adopt the service standards of the industries they regulate. Digital licensing portals, real-time operator dashboards, and accessible self-help tools for players were cited as essentials;
Shared Language of Trust– A regulator must be understandable to the punter on the street, not just lawyers and compliance officers. Clear rules on odds, payout times, self-exclusion and dispute resolution build public confidence and push players away from the unregulated market.
“Every bet, every deposit, every session leaves a digital footprint. As regulators, we must have the capability to see patterns of vulnerability long before the player themselves realizes they have a problem,” he said.
The second thrust of Kemorwale’s presentation was a call for African regulators to move from anecdote-based to data-led regulation.
Echoing earlier sessions where speakers challenged delegates to consider how technology, big data and AI could strengthen harm prevention beyond basic compliance, he argued that technology is now the regulator’s most powerful ally.
“Every bet, every deposit, every session leaves a digital footprint. As regulators, we must have the capability to see patterns of vulnerability long before the player themselves realizes they have a problem,” he said.
He proposed a continent-wide shift toward: Centralized Monitoring Systems- Similar to Uganda’s National Central Electronic Monitoring System (NCEMS), which enables self-exclusion tracking, to give regulators anonymized, real-time visibility into player behavior;
AI Driven Risk Flags– Using predictive analytics to identify markers of harm, chasing losses, escalating deposit frequency at night, extended play sessions and trigger automatic interventions like affordability checks, cool-off prompts or referrals to the National Responsible Gambling Programme;
RegTech Collaboration– Working with independent testing labs and fintechs to monitor unlicensed operators, payment flows and underage access.
He warned that without investment in these tools, regulators risked being outpaced by both technology and the illegal market.
“The question is not whether technology will disrupt gambling regulation. It already has. The question is whether we will use that same technology to protect the most vulnerable,” he said.
