Africa’s gaming market is entering a more mature phase as operators and suppliers move away from rapid market entry and place greater emphasis on local infrastructure, payments, KYC, fraud prevention and regulatory compliance.
According to Christophe Casanova, CEO and Founder of Honoré Gaming, three trends are likely to shape the market over the next three to five years - consolidation of licensing regimes, continued development of mobile money and local payment rails, and broader product diversification.
What will shape Africa’s gaming market
Casanova describes the next stage of the industry as a shift from a market “land grab” towards building sustainable businesses. Regulators that have spent recent years developing local licensing systems are increasingly tightening enforcement and placing greater pressure on operators whose compliance infrastructure has not kept pace.
Mobile money and local payment systems are also becoming a core part of the market infrastructure. In many jurisdictions, traditional banking networks do not provide the same level of accessibility required by gaming customers.
Product diversification is another major trend. Sports betting has driven much of the continent’s gaming growth, but Casanova expects pool betting, lotteries, virtual products and casino offerings to become more important for margins and player retention beyond football betting.
He also argues that future growth will not necessarily be concentrated in Africa’s largest and best-known markets. Less crowded jurisdictions could offer long-term opportunities where consumer demand is established and regulators are increasingly willing to formalise the sector.
Francophone Africa requires a local strategy
Francophone African markets remain challenging for international businesses because of differences in regulation, taxation, payments and market structure.
In some countries, a significant share of betting activity still takes place through retail locations and agents. These transactions can be largely cash-based, while customer identification at the point of sale remains limited.
Fragmented payment infrastructure and uneven identity systems add further complexity. As a result, a strategy that works in a more established African market cannot necessarily be transferred directly to another jurisdiction.
Casanova argues that international businesses need deep local partnerships and a longer investment horizon rather than a rapid market-entry strategy.
North Africa follows a different model
Casanova also distinguishes North African markets because of their different regulatory traditions, payment ecosystems and consumer behaviour. Cultural and religious factors can further influence attitudes towards gaming and determine what is considered permissible.
For that reason, he does not see a single go-to-market strategy working consistently across the continent. Technology suppliers can nevertheless create efficiencies through shared infrastructure, including common KYC and antifraud systems that are adapted to individual jurisdictions.
Africa faces a significant iGaming fraud challenge
Fraud and identity verification are becoming major priorities for operators across the region.
According to Sumsub’s 2026 iGaming Fraud Report, the global iGaming fraud rate was 1.53% in Q1 2026. Africa recorded a rate of 2.54%, the highest among the regions covered by the report.
The report also found that 97% of detected fraud in its African data was identified at the selfie and liveness stage.
Casanova links part of the growing risk to artificial intelligence, which has reduced the cost of producing convincing fake identities and synthetic documents at scale.
At the same time, he cautions against treating the situation as an inherently African problem. In his view, the underlying issue is weaker or under-resourced identity infrastructure, which can create similar risks in other markets.
For operators, he recommends a layered approach combining strong onboarding controls with behavioural and transaction monitoring after registration.
However, adding more verification requirements is not necessarily the answer. In markets where many legitimate customers lack conventional identity documents, overly restrictive KYC can make regulated services harder to access and push users towards unlicensed operators.
Localisation goes beyond language and payments
International businesses can also underestimate how betting activity is structured at the local level.
In some markets, a substantial share of customers still use retail and agent networks rather than interacting directly through an app. Bet sizes, accumulator preferences, local sports and informal credit arrangements can all influence customer behaviour.
Trust is another important factor. In markets where consumers have experienced payout delays or operators disappearing with funds, credibility is built through consistent payouts, recommendations and the reputation of agents.
What will define Africa’s gaming market
Casanova identifies three strategic priorities for international operators and suppliers.
The first is moving from simply entering a market to building a genuinely local operation that reflects regulatory and payment realities.
The second is treating retail and agent networks as a core distribution channel rather than relying exclusively on an online-first model.
The third is turning fraud prevention and identity infrastructure into a core operational capability rather than treating them purely as compliance functions.
As AI-driven fraud becomes more sophisticated, Casanova expects trust, security and infrastructure quality to become increasingly important competitive advantages. Africa’s gaming market is likely to remain highly fragmented, with regulation, payments, retail distribution and identity infrastructure developing at different speeds across jurisdictions.
Source: SiGMA World
