Authorities are on the offensive against unlicensed and illegal gambling in two of Africa’s biggest economies, Egypt and South Africa.
The African betting industry has grown substantially over the past few years with a plethora of local firms establishing themselves in various markets, like betn9ja, betpawa, Sun International and HollywoodBets.
It is also becoming a hotbed for international activity, with notable names being Super Group via its Betway sportsbook, and Kaizen Gaming via Betano. While these regulated firms are welcome, much like in Europe, local regulators are losing patience with non-compliance…
South Africa takes aim at offshores
Much like the established markets of Europe, South Africa is seeing a battle of wills play out between the regulated market and the authorities overseeing it on one side and the unlicensed and illegal markets on the other.
The National Gambling Board (NGB), the national regulator for South African betting and gambling, plans to hit back. The NGB informed parliament this week that it plans to work with international regulators to combat illegal gambling, as reported by BusinessDay.
“We are seeing that there are external operators in our space, and those are not licensed in South Africa, and that creates a challenge of its own because, in that specific instance, they are coming from the online casinos, and they are offered by other countries,” said Lungille Dukwana, Chief Executive Officer of the NGB.
The move shows the extent that regulators across the world have become frustrated with unlicensed, illegal and offshore operations in their respective markets. Over in Europe, national regulators from the likes of the UK, France, Germany and the Netherlands have emphasised the importance of cross-border collaboration for some time.
In South Africa, the NGB estimates that some R5trn (£303.8m) is generated by illegal gambling platforms. This represents around 3.75% of the R75trn generated by the legal, licensed South African sector in 2025.
Betting and gaming in South Africa has become big business, with the companies active within it making substantial revenues while the state reaps the tax rewards. Gaming revenue in 2023/24 rose 25.7% year-over-year to R47.2bn.
This has led to concerns about social responsibility, however, due to the substantial number of South Africans who live in poverty. Amongst this, the regulated industry and reform campaigners have expressed alarm at the sector’s regulatory fragmentation and growth of black market gambling.
Interestingly, however, BusinessDay reports that some of the platforms the NGB is targeting are based in the UK and its overseas territory of Gibraltar, a major international hub for gambling domiciling and licensing.
Dukwana also identified the Philippines and Malta as locations where offshore firms targeting South Africa are based – Malta being a jurisdiction facing criticism back in the EU for the international operations of its licensed gambling businesses.
Egypt gets betting block in motion
Egypt is arguably Africa’s biggest betting market, with valuations generally in the billions.
According to Data Bridge, the sports betting market generated revenue of $1.5bn in 2024, and the firm expects revenue in the country to hit $2.9bn by 2032.
There is just one catch, however – the market is largely grey or black, with land-based betting and casinos strictly prohibited in the predominantly Muslim North African country.
An absence of any legislation specifically banning online betting has given web-based betting platforms an inroad in the grey market, but the government made it clear earlier this year that it was going to step up blocking measures.
According to a May report from the Al-Shorouk outlet, Ahmed Badawy MP, Chairman of the House of Representatives’ Communications and Information Technology Committee, has detailed progress on the Egyptian government’s bid to close the gap in online gambling regulation.
The government is going to make amendments to the country’s Cybercrime Law to specifically make online gambling a criminal office. The amendments are based on a bill proposed in January 2025 by another MP, Martha Mahrous.
Once the amendments are adopted, people running illegal online betting sites in Egypt could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Time running out for Kenyan operators
And now heading to East Africa, another regulatory change is underway in Kenya, which like South Africa is one of the continent’s most well established and valuable markets.
The seventh largest country in Africa by both population and GDP, Kenya is targeted by major international players like bet365, 1xbet, SportPesa, and 888bet (part of the 888Africa joint venture between evoke-owned 888 and Christopher Coyne).
However, it is often subject to regulatory and taxation changes. In the latest round of these, a new licensing framework overseen by the newly created Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA).
The GRA replaces the long-time regulator of Kenyan betting, the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) under the Gambling Control Act 2025, enhanced by parliament in August 2025.
Operators have until 30 June to acquire a new licence issued by the GRA.
However, the Association of Gaming Operators Kenya (AGOK) remains confident that “the GRA will duly provide the guidance on the process” to betting industry leadership, as the trade body’s CEO, John Mutua, told iGaming Expert.
