As the fight to curb problem gambling and its consequences across Africa continues to intensify, gaming stakeholders have pinpointed incessant, unsolicited advertising as one major cause of the canker while urging a focus on increased collaboration to enhance regulations across the continent.
During Gamble Alert’s 2026 symposium held in Lagos yesterday, which brought together regulators, mental health workers and operator executives for panel discussions, the menace of uncontrolled advertising was spotlighted.
Gamble Alert, a non-governmental organization, is regarded as one of the biggest voices leading the charge for safer gaming practices across Nigeria and Africa at large.
Speaking on a panel session themed Selling hope: the effect of gambling advertisements on player behavior, Head of Legal and Compliance Officer, Bet9ja, Akande Adewale, warned that manipulative advertising was becoming a noticeable pattern amongst operators.
“We should be careful about the kind of messages that are being passed around by our influencers. These messages must be balanced and objective.
“Often times, we’ve seen influencers prompting punters to play because someone won a certain large amount. Whereas in fact, that is not true.
“At Bet9ja, we don’t disclose our winners, even though we’ve seen some leverage on that daily to induce their customers. I think operators need to be careful, we have to ensure that the messages we put out through our influencers, brand ambassadors, are balanced, enabling the consumers to make informed decisions.”
During another session about the future of responsible gaming in Africa: strengthening regulatory oversight for player protection, which featured three regulators, panelists collectively concurred to the rapidly advancing regulatory reforms aimed at protecting the players across the continent.
Bashir Are, CEO Lagos State Lotteries and Gaming Authority, reaffirmed that the board is advanced in ensuring player safety in Lagos and environs, which has culminated in launching the SafePlay initiative, a national self-exclusion tool where players can voluntarily exclude themselves from gambling if they feel the need to.
“There is the need to strengthen on KYCs, we need to amplify on payment infrastructures and oversight so much that any wallet perceived to be underaged should be restricted and have no access”, Bashir added.
For Olajide Boladuro, Director-General Oyo State Gaming and Lottery Board, he believes the player has to be put first, as there would be no operator or regulator if there are no players.
“Player welfare should be at the centre of every regulatory decision being taken in Africa. Without the player, you can agree with me that there would be no regulations”, Boladuro said.
Another panelist, Bashiru Donbine, the Deputy Commissioner for Strategy and Growth, Ghana Gaming Commission informed that oversight in Ghana has been made easier due to the use of the Ghana Card, issued by the National Identification Authority (NIA), which is now mandated for any form of financial transaction and that includes gaming, in the pursuit of player protection.
In recent years, there has been a significant increase in reports of underage gambling addiction in Africa. A recent survey by GamblePause Initiative Africa revealed that at least 57.2% of children under the age of 18 in Nigeria have agreed to have placed a bet, while further statistics show that 60%—80% of gambling harm is witnessed or experienced mostly by young people across African communities.
Thus, Gamble Alert reiterates that the purpose of the symposium is to alert industry experts, operators, and regulators about the need to ramp up on gambling harm awareness and player protection strategies in the face of Africa’s rapidly expanding industry.
