New report shares insights about Africa’s iGaming sector

• Gaming Compliance International released the first online gambling report spanning every African nation
• The report points to the growth of regulated online gambling which recorded $5.2bn GGR in 2025
• Losses to unregulated iGaming remain the biggest challenge for countries in the region with an estimated $3.55bn lost taxes throughout last year

The leader in regulatory gaming compliance technology and consultancy, Gaming Compliance International (GCI), released the first-ever comprehensive report on online gambling across all African nations.

Regulated iGaming grows across Africa

The report looks into the iGaming sector across all 54 African nations and offers insights about two consecutive years.

Drawing audience and activity data from 2024 through 2025, the report identifies trends, challenges and the growth of the online gambling sector across Africa.

Per GCI’s report, the gross gambling revenue (GGR) reported by regulated gambling operators across the region in 2024 was $4.4bn, or 22% of the market.

Notably, in 2025, regulated GGR increased significantly, hitting $5.2bn, or 23% of the market.

While regulated gambling revenue increased by nearly $1bn, the majority of the GGR remains in the hands of unregulated, offshore operators.

According to GCI, unregulated GGR in 2024 was $15.6bn, while in 2025, it hit $17.8m, representing 78% and 77% of the market, respectively.

Matt Holt, GCI’s CEO, spoke about the newly released report, Casino Guru News learned from a press release.

"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," he explained.

Moreover, Holt pointed to the growth of the regulated online gambling sector and its positive expansion in several African countries.

"That tells us these tools work. 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," Holt said in conclusion.

African governments lose billions in taxes over unregulated online gambling

Countries in Africa are losing billions of dollars to illegal online gambling and GCI’s report highlights this challenge.

In 2024, 198m people, or 13% of the population in the region interacted with online gambling. The following year, 14% of the population, or 215m people interacted with iGaming.

"Demand is not the problem within Africa. The challenge is ensuring that demand is captured within the regulated sector," GCI’s report reads.

Focusing on the losses to unregulated online gambling, the company acknowledges that based on the $17.8bn unregulated online gambling GGR in 2025, African governments have lost an estimated $3.55bn in the form of gambling tax.

Equally important, while the regulated sector grew, so did the number of unregulated iGaming operators targeting players across the region.

GCI warned that the number of unregulated iGaming companies targeting Africa increased from 3,644 in 2024 to 4,129 in 2025.

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