Sub-saharan Africa prompts new laws, foreign groups to mitigate

While Kenya has been ahead of their cohorts in legalising online gambling, illegal websites and suspicious activities have prompted a rise in the black market throughout the country and continent.

According to a new study by the universities of Ghana, Bath, and Glasgow, in partnership with the Malawi Epidemiology and Intervention Research Unit (MEIRU), the expansion of gambling markets through new technology, such as phone apps and websites, has been a problem for governments across the continent, who are struggling to keep up their laws and regulations that keep players and businesses safe.

As this trend is relatively new, African leaders are looking at their European counterparts, who have been navigating the online gaming market for decades by imposing strict taxes and watchdog groups that work to prevent overspending, gambling addictions, and illegal casinos.

In Kenya specifically, the rise of sports betting and gambling apps concerned the government, which passed several new regulatory laws last year, eventually raising taxes on casinos, sports betting sites, and players.

The tax on players’ winnings was recently raised to 20%, while operator revenue is now at 15%. Critics of this law have argued that the tax hike is scaring away licensed and vetted casinos from applying for licenses. Instead, players are turning towards unsanctioned apps that promise high payouts.

While there are websites that aid players in locating regulated casinos (ensuring their safety when gambling online), some officials, including sources at justgamblers.com, believe that advertising state-sanctioned sites is insufficient.

Crucial Compliance, a Gibraltar-based gaming consultancy specialising in risk compliance, is now working with African governments to help minimise the harm of online gambling. In January 2023, the group vowed to work hard to raise awareness about the risks of gambling.

Crucial Compliance hosted a series of hackathons to gather players, operators, and politicians and work together to create solutions that would have a lasting effect throughout the continent.

While Kenya has reported an overall decrease in betting and gambling since 2019 due to taxation laws, countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa are expanding due to economic factors. In areas where citizens have low salaries, they are beginning to experiment with gambling to make an extra salary.

This can lead to increased addiction and further economic harm. Laws throughout Europe have been passed that prevent individuals from gambling outside their means by requiring proof of income and preventing bets that are too large from certain customers. Kenya, along with many other African countries, lacks provisions like this one.

This year you can expect to see more governments pass stricter laws around online gambling, with the idea of pushing legal, licensed sites so that citizens do not fall prey to scams and black market websites.