Betting in Africa: phones everywhere, but not local apps
Nearly all betting south of the Sahara is done on phones, but use of local apps is very low. Differences in product preferences and regulation between markets mean operators invest according to what each market returns, rather than offering the same product in every country.
Nearly every bet south of the Sahara is placed on a phone, but very few through a local app. According to GeoPoll's 2026 survey, 95 percent of active bettors in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda use a mobile device.
In South Africa, Android users cannot download a licensed sports betting app from Google Play. They have to install it from the operator's website as a file that is updated manually.
Markets differ from one another. In Kenya, 24 percent of bettors choose Aviator-style crash games as their main product. In South Africa, casino leads with 36 percent, while football stays at 29 percent. 58 percent of bettors spend less than 10 US dollars a month.
According to the writer, market selection should not be based on turnover alone, but on what a market brings in. In South Africa, external game providers, third-party lobbies, widgets and automated KYC each add licensing and maintenance costs. In smaller markets such as Botswana and Namibia, the same platform is run with fewer extras.
Regulation is also fragmented. In South Africa, gross gambling revenue rose more than threefold between 2021/22 and 2024/25, reaching about 52 billion rand. Online casino is still not legal. In Nigeria, authority has passed to the states, Kenya changed its tax model twice in two years, and Ghana removed its withholding tax.
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