Taking place at the GrandWest Grand Arena in Cape Town, the first day of the SiGMA Africa 2026 conference kicked off with a discussion that looked at next steps for African markets as they enter a more mature phase. The conversation spotlighted the benefits of regional cooperation – especially when it comes to finding the sweet spot between player protection and growth.
Participating was moderator Zoe Siwa, CFO for the Western Cape Gambling and Racing Board and panellists: Vusi Mtsweni, CEO for the Mpumalanga Economic Regulator (MER); James Mbalwe, CEO of the Gaming Board of Tanzania; Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe, CEO of the African iGaming Alliance (AiA) and Denis Ngabirano, CEO of the National Lotteries and Gaming Regulatory Board.
Finding balance
When it comes to the question of balance, Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe highlights his concern that the market will not wait for slow moving regulation to catch up. Early legislation was designed to work for the existing land-based establishments. No one foresaw, he says, that one day we would have cryptocurrencies or AI.
“Everything was premised on traditional, regulated tools. So online betting has expanded at a faster pace than the traditional tools were designed to handle.”
Risk for Peter is not about growth – as he puts it – it’s an irrelevance. “What we need to be focusing on in terms of balance itself, is player protection.” It’s all about choice, he goes on to say. “All you have to do is reject the bad choices”, he chuckles.
“You don’t protect the players by shrinking the legal market. You protect the players by making the legal market safer than the illegal one,” he advises. How? Look at data before ideology. Look at risk-based interventions and not just blanket restrictions. We need clearer rules, consistency in force, he says.
His conclusion is a sage one – “Over regulation drives players underground. Under regulation drives harm. The balance is smart regulation.”
A case for Uganda: Evidence-led policies and industry growth
Vusi Mtsweni shares his experience of gaming in the Ugandan markets. “Gaming in Africa, particularly in Uganda is no longer emerging – it is maturing. And that maturity brings great responsibility.”
Player protection is a pressure point, he explains, however, he cautions that care must be taken not to slow industry growth.
“We are careful not to slow down growth as this is an industry creating jobs – employing over 10,000 youth and driving innovation and generating a lot of revenue for the country. The solution lies in evidence led policy. And here in Uganda we have focused on automating all our business processes to ensure that we use data to inform our policies.”
Data, he explains, will help the industry learn more deeply about player behaviour, where the risk lies. It informs policies put in place to ensure that collective measures are taken to promote responsible gaming and avoid pushing the players into unregulated markets.
“Gaming does not stop at national borders,” he emphasised. “We need to collaborate also as regional bodies to ensure that we standardise our gaming environment, to share information and collaboratively work together to ensure that we change the perception around gaming that is causing the pressure on player protection.”
Three trends emerging across the African markets
Africa is a mobile-first continent, chimes in Peter. Referencing the quiz which took place during last night’s awards ceremony, he reminds the audience that 81% of South Africans play and bet online over their phones. There has been rapid digital growth in Africa.
Secondly, African regulators are prioritising player protection. Governments are introducing affordability checks, advertising controls, and responsible gambling protection.
While we are saying Africa is no longer emerging, but a market on transition, we are now noting market sustainability must be balanced. If the regulated market becomes unattractive – players simply migrate to the offshore platforms, where there is no government protection or regulator protection.
Strengthening player protection
Tanzania is an industry that is growing extremely fast, says James Mbalwe. We cannot move forward without looking into robust prayer protection.
The main challenge in Tanzania is illegal operators that don’t adhere to operating standards.
What can be done?
“It’s actually to strike a balance between protecting the player, while at the same time making the market competitive.” We do this, he goes on to say, by making illegal operators their key focus – not just by fighting them, but by raising awareness and sharing vital knowledge about who the licenced operators actually are.
They also carry out responsible gaming initiatives, through campaigns in areas where their presence is limited.
One area that can be addressed is in regards to information sharing across borders. We are still using manual methods, James notes, “we have to move to where our colleagues are. So if we can invest in technology, it’ll be quite easy for us to regulate our industry, to try to catch up with the rest of the world.”
“Players don’t leave because they hate regulation”, says Vivi. “They leave because offshore illegal platforms are faster, easier, and frictionless.” He explains that if excessive red tape affects app performance or advertising, players will migrate in seconds. The solution is simple but uncomfortable: make compliance strong, but make the legal market competitive.
Peter opines that “the real risk to profitability is an unstable regulatory environment, not responsible gambling. So leading operators view responsible gambling as a long-term investment in terms of market sustainability. We are seeing operators into recent deposit limits, self-exclusion tools, behavioral monitoring, systems player education and initiative. So this also builds trust with the regulators as well as with the players.”
Looking at the evidence
Denis Ngabirano is of the opinion that you have to focus on the combination of data research and stakeholder input. The starting point, he says, is the operational data that helps you understand player behavior and risks.
“You have to ensure that you engage your stakeholders, especially the operators, so that all your decisions can help sustain their businesses. In conclusion, there is no single source that stands on its own. It must be a combination of all the three.
The major focus is standardization. Most of the operators now in Africa are operating in almost all jurisdictions. So the standardization of Africa markets is more volatile because of the negative perception.”
A three-year plan
Over the next three years, the panel agreed that Africa’s top priority must be strengthening player protection while sustaining industry growth, with data and digital oversight at the center of reform. Regulators must gain real-time access to operator data in order to monitor online behavioral patterns, detect risk early, and respond to offshore leakages. Without this visibility, oversight will lag behind a rapidly evolving digital market, leaving regulators to “chase” rather than manage industry developments. Total transparency between operators and regulators is therefore essential.
A major focus should also be understanding the mindset of the player. Too often, discussions revolve around individuals already in crisis instead of preventing harm at an earlier stage. By leveraging technology and behavioral analytics, regulators and operators can set appropriate limits and design interventions that reflect how players actually engage with gaming products.
In addition, the panel highlighted the need for structured dispute resolution mechanisms to protect players in conflicts with operators. Clear, accessible systems for resolving complaints will strengthen trust in regulated markets.
Ultimately, Africa’s three-year strategy should prioritise digital oversight, data sharing, proactive protection tools, and fair enforcement – ensuring that growth and responsibility advance together rather than in opposition.
About Alea
Alea is a B2B iGaming platform that gives casino operators access to a wide selection of games and providers through a single integration. The company focuses on transparency, performance and scalability, helping operators grow in both mature and emerging markets. Africa is currently one of the key regions in Alea’s global strategy.
As the general partner of SiGMA Africa 2026, Alea supports the summit’s mission of sustainable growth and industry collaboration across the continent. Delegates who want to discuss scalable aggregation solutions and opportunities in the African market can meet the Alea team at stand 065 during the summit in Cape Town.
A new frontier rises beneath the skyline of São Paulo. From 06–09 April 2026, BiS SiGMA South America transforms LatAm’s gaming capital into a hub of innovation, bold talks, and billion-dollar opportunity. Don’t sit this one out.
