Africa: The Final Frontier?

Africa has been called the next—and perhaps last—iGaming frontier. It benefits from widespread mobile and internet penetration, a young, digital-first population and millions of users with an appetite for online entertainment, including casino gambling and sports betting. By one estimate, the industry could be worth $6 billion in 2027.

Last year, to shape the fast-growing sector, market leaders including betPawa, Betway, 888Africa and Sportybet formed the African iGaming Alliance and tapped Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe as its first chief executive officer.

The appointment of Kesitilwe, formerly head of Botswana’s Gambling Authority, gives the AiA “immediate credibility,” said Betway Africa Managing Director Anthony Prissman. Sportybet Vice President of Business Development Gregory Parsons added, “The AiA was created to support balanced regulation and raise standards for responsible gambling. Peter’s leadership marks the beginning of this journey.”

As operator interest surges, Kesitilwe doesn’t foresee a gold rush on the continent. “Instead, I expect a disciplined wave of strategic investment,” he says. “The industry is moving away from the early-stage opportunism that characterized the last decade toward a far more structured market shaped by regulation, payment modernization and responsible play standards.”

AiA’s function is to “bridge the gap between industry innovation and regulatory readiness,” Kesitilwe says. “My background allows me to help governments design policies that protect players, ensure tax integrity and support sustainable market growth, while also helping operators understand what good compliance looks like in an African context. In short, my role is to ensure that regulation becomes an enabler of growth, not a bottleneck.”

Kesitilwe and AiA advocate regulatory policies that “put players first, such as affordability checks, behavioral monitoring, stronger identity verification and national self-exclusion mechanisms. We are also working closely with operators to embed technology-driven responsible gambling practices, including AI-based risk detection and early intervention models.

“For us, protecting consumers is not a regulatory obligation, it is a business imperative. The AiA intends to be a continental leader in this area.”

What excites him about the road ahead? “The shift from fragmentation to intentional, evidence-based development. In my country and across the region, regulators are investing in digital oversight, governments are taking a more analytical approach to taxation and operators are leaning heavily into compliance, technology and responsible play standards. We are seeing stronger collaboration across regulators, financial intelligence agencies, telcos and industry, and this is creating a far more sophisticated ecosystem than what existed five years ago.

“Africa now has the opportunity to leapfrog older markets by building modern, digitally native regulatory models from day one. The future belongs to operators who embrace compliance, regulators who use data and players who benefit from safer, more transparent and more innovative gaming environments. That evolution is what excites me most.”

Kesitilwe has some advice for would-be investors: “The value will accrue to operators and suppliers who understand Africa’s unique regulatory, cultural and payments landscapes.

“This is a region where mobile money ecosystems, young digital-native demographics and rapid policy reform are converging. Long-term success will depend not just on scale but on the quality of compliance, technology and consumer protection frameworks they bring into African markets.”