For international operators seeking a single data point to illustrate the scale of Africa’s betting opportunity, a new market analysis has delivered a striking figure: R1.1 trillion.
According to Altenar’s Africa’s Sports Betting review, that is the total amount wagered in South Africa alone in 2025, a number that underlines what many industry stakeholders now describe as a full-scale digital “gold rush”.
However, the same data issues a warning to B2B suppliers and operators: Africa is not a unified market. Instead, it is a highly fragmented landscape of 54 distinct legal systems, where traditional European or US market strategies are said to be “unfit for purpose”.
Here is a breakdown of Altenar’s 2025 review of the African market.
The end of the ‘Africa strategy’
One of the report’s conclusions is the demise of the idea that a single “African strategy” can succeed. Rather than a continent-wide boom, the market has splintered into regulatory tiers that require different operational approaches.
South Africa sits firmly in the top tier. The market offers regulatory clarity and relative stability but is already dominated by established brands. New entrants face high barriers to entry and must deploy genuinely innovative products to gain meaningful traction.
Nigeria, by contrast, represents scale through sheer demographics. With a population exceeding 200 million and one of the world’s youngest audiences, it is said to offer more long-term potential. However, operators must navigate competition, complex regulation and heavy tax pressures, making compliance a commercial challenge.
Elsewhere, unregulated or lightly regulated markets such as Ethiopia present a very different risk profile. While growth potential is allegedly substantial, the absence of formal frameworks shifts the operational focus away from compliance and towards risk management, market education and long-term positioning.
Technology, not sport, is the real catalyst
While football remains the cultural backbone of betting engagement across the continent, the report identifies technology, not sport, as the primary growth driver.
The increase of affordable smartphones, combined with the rise of mobile money, has created what analysts describe as a “perfect storm” for digital betting adoption. Nowhere is this more evident than in Kenya, which has become a global reference point for mobile-first gambling ecosystems.
Kenya’s market is powered by M-Pesa, a mobile money platform that enables instant cash transfers via basic mobile technology. Unlike markets reliant on cards or traditional banking infrastructure, Kenyan bettors operate almost entirely within local payment. As a result, integration with services such as M-Pesa or Airtel Money is no longer a competitive advantage. It is the minimum requirement for market entry.
Localise or fall behind
For B2B providers, success in Africa depends on deep localisation that extends far beyond language or front-end design. Payment infrastructure, regulatory interpretation, player behaviour and distribution models all vary significantly from market to market.
The operators best positioned to capitalise on South Africa’s R1.1 trillion opportunity will be those willing to abandon one-size-fits-all strategies and build partnerships with local stakeholders who understand the regulatory and cultural DNA of each jurisdiction.
As the report concludes, the question facing the global betting industry is no longer whether Africa represents the next major growth frontier. It is whether operators can adapt quickly enough to thrive in what could be the world’s most exciting, and most fragmented, betting market.
