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By Bianca Iboma-Emefu
A new message is being pushed across Africa by the gaming industry. It says ‘gambling should be pure fun and entertaining, not a financial survival strategy.’
As the inaugural Africa Safer Gambling Week opened in Lagos from September 7-11, gaming operators, regulators, providers, and advocacy groups have emphasized the entertainment-first approach to gaming, urging adults who choose to gamble to treat it strictly as recreation and not a source of livelihood.
Spearheaded by the African iGaming Alliance (AiA) in partnership with the Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority and other regulators, the campaign seeks to make responsible play a defining culture of Africa’s rapidly expanding gaming industry.
According to Bashir Are, Chief Executive Officer, Lagos State Lottery and Gaming Commission and Chairman, Association of Gaming Regulators of Nigeria, “Gaming, or gambling, whatever you call it, should remain entertainment. It’s not a way of life. It’s not a source of revenue. It’s purely for entertainment, and it should remain the same.”
The message comes as the African gaming market continues to expand, with industry estimates putting its value at between $27 billion and $30 billion.
Stakeholders insist that sustainable growth depends on keeping players healthy, informed and in control rather than encouraging excessive play.
Olabimpe Akingba, Board member of AiA and Head of Responsible Gaming at pawaTech, described the campaign as a historic continental effort bringing regulators, operators, technology companies and mental-health professionals together around player protection.
“At the African iGaming Alliance, we have been committed to moving beyond conversations about collaboration across African jurisdictions towards meaningful action,” she said. “And what better place to demonstrate that commitment than through player protection. Africa Safer Gambling Week is our collaboration in action.”
Participating jurisdictions are receiving coordinated campaign materials while retaining the flexibility to adapt public messaging to their regulatory environments and local realities.
The campaign is taking the message beyond conference halls and into everyday spaces. In Lagos, responsible-gambling messages are displayed on BRT buses and trains, and commuters using free Wi-Fi on trains must watch short videos on the dangers of underage gambling and addiction.
Teams are also visiting tertiary institutions to educate young people. Similar campaigns are being rolled out or planned in Malawi, Kenya, Tanzania and other African jurisdictions.
Practical tools sit at the centre of the effort. The SafePlay platform, mandatory for licensed operators in Lagos, allows players to exclude themselves from gambling for periods ranging from three months to permanently. Once activated, the exclusion applies across licensed operators. More than 800 people have used the self-exclusion platform in the past two months.
Players can also set deposit and time limits. Know-Your-Customer systems linked to BVN and NIN strengthen age verification and help prevent excluded players from returning through other licensed platforms.
Regulators say responsible gaming cannot rely on voluntary compliance alone. Bashir Are said enforcement teams are already conducting operations across Lagos, with operators caught selling gambling tickets to minors facing fines of up to ₦100 million.
Illegal gaming platforms remain a major concern because they operate outside regulatory controls and weaken consumer protection.
The industry rejected the argument that responsible-gambling measures undermine business. Operators say long-term survival depends on players treating gaming as occasional leisure rather than becoming dependent on it.
“Our business cannot be sustained by having people being addicted,” an industry source said.
Licensed operators are increasingly using predictive monitoring to identify potentially harmful patterns, intervene early and, where necessary, direct players towards counselling. Lagos is also investing part of its regulatory revenue in a Social and Health Trust Fund that supports addiction treatment, including partnerships with the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital, Yaba.
Non-governmental organisations such as Gamble Alerts provide counselling that addresses gambling-related harm alongside underlying mental-health challenges. Family support is also being recognised as part of the safety net.
Speakers acknowledged that adults have the liberty to decide whether to gamble, but stressed that the choice must be informed and restricted to those aged 18 and above.
Akingba explained that gambling involves putting something of value on a game of chance, with no guarantee of winning.
“If it comes, it’s good. If it doesn’t come, it’s fine. That’s why it is entertainment,” she said.
Held under the banner #PlaySafeAfrica, the five-day programme included a formal launch and media engagement, public awareness activities, community outreach and a continental webinar. Each day focused on a different theme: responsible gambling, setting personal limits, using responsible-gambling tools, preventing underage gambling, and the risks of illegal and unlicensed operators.
Organisers emphasised that consumers should use licensed and regulated operators, arguing that unlicensed platforms leave players with fewer protections when problems occur. They also said effective player protection cannot be achieved by any single group and requires sustained collaboration among regulators, licensed operators, trade associations and responsible-gambling organisations.
Beyond 2026, the Alliance intends to establish Africa Safer Gambling Week as an annual platform to share best practices and keep player protection central, as African gambling markets mature.
