77% of African iGaming Remains Unregulated, with $23 Billion in GGR in 2025

Gaming Compliance International (GCI) says Africa’s iGaming market generated $23 billion in GGR in 2025, but only 23% of that — $5.2 billion — went through licensed platforms. For PSPs, acquirers, and banks, that is the headline: most of the volume is still sitting outside regulated rails, which means licensing, monitoring, and counterparty risk remain the whole game.

1. The legal share of the market increased by just 1% from 2024 to 2025. In practice, that is a flat line, not a regulatory breakthrough.
2. The number of unregulated operators active in Africa rose from 3,644 in 2024 to 4,129 in 2025. More operators, same problem: more exposure for payment providers trying to decide which merchants deserve a MID and which ones belong on the no-go list.
3. North Africa has the weakest regulatory picture. GCI says the region — Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya — produced $2.8 billion in GGR in 2025, and only 0.3% of that, or $9 million, flowed through regulated channels.
4. Other regions are better only by comparison. The unlicensed share is 85% in East Africa, 72% in Southern Africa, 69% in West Africa, and 78% in Central Africa.
5. Player activity is still growing even as regulation lags. In 2025, 14% of Africans, or 215 million people, interacted with iGaming, up from 13% or 198 million in 2024. Across the continent, 89% of the audience used unregulated content in 2025, versus 11% for regulated content. Local authorities also missed out on $3.55 billion in tax revenue.

One more detail that matters for risk teams: illegal ads appeared on more than 83% of illegal sports streams in Africa in 2024 and 2025. If your business touches media buying, affiliate payments, or streaming-adjacent traffic, this is the sort of distribution channel that ends up in the compliance review queue.