The state of Africa: The reach of land-based and online betting

Africa is a vast place with a litany of different cultures making it up. From the north, which finds the Mediterranean lapping at the shores of places like Tripoli, to the south, where the Atlantic and the Indian Oceans meet off the coast of Cape Town, the continent has begun to emerge as the next big gambling market. But what is the state of gambling across the continent?

Well, Gambling Insider takes a look at Africa and the countries that comprise it to see what is and isn’t legal across each country.

Country status

Country	Gambling Legal	Land-Based Regulated	Online Legal	Online Regulated
Algeria	No	No	No	No
Angola	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Benin	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Botswana	Yes	Yes	No	No
Burkina	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Burundi	Yes	Yes	No	No
Cameroon	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Cape Verde	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Central African Republic	Yes	Yes	No	No
Chad	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Comoros	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Congo	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Democratic Republic of Congo	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Djibouti	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Egypt	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Equatorial Guinea	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Eritrea	No	No	No	No
Ethiopia	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Gabon	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gambia	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Ghana	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guinea	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guinea-Bissau	No	No	No	No
Ivory Coast	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Kenya	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lesotho	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Liberia	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Libya	No	No	No	No
Madagascar	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Malawi	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Malti	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mauritania	No	No	No	No
Mauritius	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Morocco	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Mozambique	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nambia	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Niger	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Nigeria	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rwanda	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Sao Tome and Principe	Yes	Yes	No	No
Senegal	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Seychelles	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Sierra Leone	Yes	No	Yes	No
Somalia	No	No	No	No
South Africa	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
South Sudan	No	No	No	No
Sudan	No	No	No	No
Eswatini	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Tanzania	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Togo	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Tunisia	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Uganda	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Zambia	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Zimbabwe	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes

FAQ’s

Why do so many African countries have such vastly different betting rules?

Much of the answer to this has to do with religion. In the map above, it can be seen that many countries don’t have any betting clustered together – many of these are predominantly occupied by people of the Muslim faith, meaning that the practice is strictly forbidden.

However, there are some exceptions – Morocco, for example, has legalised betting.

Is the market there growing quickly?

This depends on the country; many are seeing mobile broadband access driving online betting in particular, because of the growing need for smartphones and internet access.

According to MiFinity, 83% of Africa is now covered by a mobile broadband network while 61% of people have a mobile phone of any kind – contrasted to 78% of people across Europe owning a smartphone, with the UK alone having 91% smartphone penetration.

So, yes, the market for online gambling is growing very quickly across much of Africa, which is being driven by the fast-increasing mobile broadband and smartphone usage (primarily in young people).

Does internet access vary?

Yes, it varies greatly. In Morocco, the internet penetration rates stand at 88.1% – according to a 2023 report by Statista – while in the Central African Republic, the figure was at a lowly 10.6% at the start of 2023, according to DataReportal.

Further, it should be noted that Africa has the lowest amount of internet connections (people using the internet) at just 22%. According to the International Finance Corporation, while that figure is low, it has huge potential to expand, with the African Union and the World Bank Group aiming to connect every business, person and government by 2030.