The European betting market is the biggest in the world and the most profitable too. However, the iGaming market has been thriving in Africa and especially, South Africa, for several years now.
The most popular form of betting in Africa is sports betting and football betting leads the way in that.
South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya have the biggest thriving markets for betting in Africa and these are dominated by sports betting.
The online betting industry has brought positive changes to the economy of these countries following steady growth. This has benefitted the entire continent in many ways as locals in other countries can also bet of offshore betting sites from their jurisdictions as a lot of them do not have restrictions on betting.
(Photo: Dough4872 , CC BY-SA 4.0)
Today, the most popular sports betting events are football and horse racing. Africans are massive sports fans and absolutely football crazy. Football is like a religion in almost every African nation so it is no surprise as to how popular it is.
Rugby and cricket are also extremely popular in Africa and see huge interest not only when it comes to watching these sports but also bets being placed on them.
Ghana and Uganda are among the fastest growing online sports betting markets in Africa due to the rampant rise in technology and internet penetration.
Almost every person has a smartphone now in the country that can be used for betting online. This has led to a massive increase in mobile phone betting in the countries.
Although millions of Africans have turned to betting on a daily or regular basis, they are still far from their peak and can grow even further given that some countries do not have online betting regulations like Zimbabwe, for example.
Mobile betting is Africa’s best betting option among young Africans who have no issues in using their mobile phones to place bets and can do so on the go. In fact, they love the fact that they can bet using their phones at any time and from anywhere.
There is a direct link between the rise in betting activities among African sports bettors and the usage of smartphones. Here are some of the key drivers of the African mobile betting market:
- Mobile e-wallets and direct payment systems
- High unemployment rates
- Large youth population in Africa
- Rapid rise in internet penetration
- Cheap smartphones available in the market
- Lenient online betting laws and regulations
The mobile sports betting market is on the rise continually and this is no surprise given the unconditional love that Africans have for all sports – locally and internationally.
Another major reason that is unknown or overlooked, however, is the fact that a lot of Africans do not have bank accounts so end up using mobile money for transactions. Thanks to all the popular mobile phone services offered by Airtel, Vodafone, Safaricom, Telkom among others, have offered mobile money services to make deposits and withdrawals easy for users.
Many of these services offered include the popular Airtel Money, Mpesa and T-cash. These platforms have tied up with some of the biggest online sportsbooks not only in Africa but across the globe. This has made it extremely easy for Africans to bet without needing active bank accounts for transactions.
The youth is very tech savvy and given Africa’s young population, it has been easy to attract them to mobile phone betting. Along with all the other factors, it is only logical to see how the mobile betting market has grown and is growing in one of the biggest continents in the world.
