The African Responsible Gaming Network (ARGN) launched on Monday, with the goal of improving cooperation on responsible gaming and gambling-harm prevention across Africa.
The network unites representatives from South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Cameroon, Uganda and Eswatini, along with additional partners from outside the continent, including Austria.
Founding members include Gamble Pause Initiative Africa, Gamble Aware Nigeria and the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation. The initiative brings together responsible gaming organizations, researchers and treatment specialists, and is described as a “significant step forward” in addressing gambling-related harm across the continent.
Leadership and founding rationale
Lebo Seoheng, advocacy and communications manager at the South African Responsible Gaming Foundation, was named ARGN’s president. Seoheng said the network’s launch comes as Africa’s online gambling market continues to grow, making player protection and responsible gambling measures increasingly relevant.
Ladipo Abiose Akolade, founder of GamblePause Initiative Africa, one of ARGN’s founding members, said the network was established to address the fragmented state of responsible gambling work across the continent.
“ARGN was created because problem gambling is becoming a bigger issue across Africa and most responsible gambling efforts still happen within individual countries,” Akolade told iGaming Business. “While many organisations are doing great work, there has been limited opportunity to learn from each other, share research, or work together on common challenges.”
“We felt there was a gap for a continent-wide network that could connect organisations, encourage collaboration, and help build a stronger collective voice on player protection. ARGN is not here to replace national organisations or regulators. Its purpose is to support and strengthen the work already being done by bringing people and organisations together,” Akolade added.
Scale of gambling harm
The launch follows a Gaming Compliance International (GCI) report that projected Africa’s online gambling industry generated $23 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2025, with 77% of that total occurring outside licensed gambling sites.
A review published in The Lancet Public Health found that 80.3 million adults in Africa gambled in the past year, of whom 11.2 million showed signs of gambling issues. In South Africa, the National Gambling Board reported that 31% of respondents indicated gambling issues in 2024-2025, compared with less than 6% in 2017.
Regional revenue figures vary widely. According to H2 Gambling Capital data for 2025, South Africa remains the continent’s largest interactive gambling market at $3.3 billion in gross win, followed by Nigeria at $1.1 billion, Ghana at $883.3 million, and Kenya at $677.5 million.
GeoPoll’s Betting in Africa 2026 report puts the continent’s sports betting market at approximately $3 billion, with the broader gambling industry valued near $17.6 billion and more than 440 million bettors.
Four areas of focus
ARGN outlined four strategic priorities:
- Producing a pan-African gambling harm report covering research, emerging trends and evidence from across the continent;
- Establishing a directory of treatment, recovery and support services for people affected by gambling harm;
- Developing policy recommendations and practical measures to help regulators and policymakers strengthen their responsible gaming frameworks;
- Coordinating awareness and prevention initiatives that can be deployed across multiple African markets.
The network stated that prevention efforts alone cannot address every case of gambling harm, and that access to counselling, treatment and recovery support forms a core part of its planned work.
Its proposed directory aims to map treatment and support organizations operating across Africa and identify gaps in service availability. ARGN noted that treatment infrastructure needs to be considered alongside awareness campaigns, since directing consumers to seek help is only effective where appropriate services exist and are accessible.
Common principles, not uniform rules
ARGN maintains that a single regulatory model is unlikely to work across Africa given differences in legal frameworks, market development and culture among countries. Akolade said the network intends to promote “common principles rather than identical regulations.”
“Every African country has its own legal framework, culture, and level of market development, so a single model might not work everywhere,” Akolade told iGB. “What we do believe is that basic principles should apply across all markets. These include protecting minors, providing effective self-exclusion options, promoting responsible advertising and ensuring that people affected by gambling harm can access support.”
“ARGN will help to shape these principles into standards while allowing countries to implement them in ways that fit their local realities,” Akolade added.
Asked what specific measures the network is pursuing, Akolade said ARGN wants to establish minimum player protection standards across African markets and shift responsible gambling requirements from voluntary guidance toward enforced regulatory obligations.
“We would like to see stronger player protection measures across African markets,” Akolade said. “That includes enforcement of effective age and identity verification, meaningful self-exclusion systems, responsible gambling advertising standards, improved access to counselling and treatment services and stronger action against illegal operators.”
Illegal operators remain a concern
Unlicensed gambling activity continues to pose challenges for regulators and player protection efforts across Africa. GCI estimates unlicensed operators generated $17.8 billion of Africa’s $23 billion in online gambling revenue in 2025, up from $15.6 billion in 2024. The number of unregulated platforms targeting African consumers rose from 3,644 in 2024 to 4,129 in 2025, according to the report.
The African iGaming Alliance held a webinar during Africa Safer Gambling Week examining how the black market affects both players and the regulated gambling industry. The alliance noted that unlicensed operators can function without safeguards typically used by regulated firms, such as age verification procedures, responsible gambling tools, secure payment channels and complaint-handling processes.
ARGN’s launch follows the inaugural Africa Safer Gambling Week, held September 7-11, and organized by the African iGaming Alliance. The event brought together regulators, operators and other stakeholders to discuss player protection, responsible gambling and public awareness.