The Gaming Authority in Ghana is set to intensify its efforts around regulation of the gambling industry, with a specific focus on the location of the gambling venues.
Commissioner Emmanuel Siisi Quainoo has emphasised during a recent meeting that the body is aiming to tackle the level of gambling venues in areas that could see an increased impact on the most vulnerable corners of society.
The framework is set to be around zoning rules and the enforcing of gambling compliance as the sector continues to grow in terms of engagement.
Quainoo stated: “As part of our mandate, gaming operators are prohibited from establishing facilities near schools and religious institutions. If an applicant’s proposed location is too close to these areas, we will not grant a license. Our goal is to prevent school children from being drawn into gambling at the expense of their education… We will take firm action against illegal gambling operators and ensure strict enforcement of the law.”
The Minister of the Interior, Hon. Muntaka Mohammed-Mubarak recently reiterated the importance of a review of the legislations governing the gaming industry in a bid to strengthen governance and address emerging trends as well as meet international best practices.
He underpinned the necessity for the Commission to heighten efforts to prevent minors from engaging in gaming activities and called for deliberate measures to promote responsible gaming practices in Ghana among players.
Urbanisation of player trends
Ghana is a market within Africa that has benefited from significant urbanisation in recent times, with it being one of the fastest adopters of crypto.
Speaking to iGaming Expert on player trends in Africa and how they have evolved in the modern era, Tekkorp’s Conor O’Donovan, commented: “There has been a complete change in the way players bet, totally leaning towards casino in the modern era. This uplift has largely been felt by low-bandwidth RNG games, the limiting factor being in the most part, handsets [as they] remain poor and experience can be limited by data availability.
“Nonetheless, penetration is increasing and it’s significant to the growth of different markets, however, the ceiling for progress is still high. A majority of the phones are second-hand and are low quality. The betting experience on one of these handsets can be really, really poor. Operators need to account for this when engaging the market.
“I would say across Africa at the moment, you’re looking at somewhere between five billion and six billion USD TAM, with roughly 20% online growth across the region over the next number of years. So we’re looking at doubling TAM. So there’s going to be significant growth being driven by a number of factors.
“Key to this is the availability of smartphones. So they’re getting cheaper, they’re getting more available, this also needs to be supported by improvement in the networks and constant investment into 4G, which is improving immensely in urban areas and slowly in rural regions.”
Additionally, the likes of SuperGroup have targeted further African growth following strong revenue across several regulated markets in the region.
The group posted a 29% year-on-year growth in online casino revenue in 2024, to €373m, supported in part by growth in Africa.
Neal Menashe, CEO of Super Group, noted the significant opportunities opening up in the region but also emphasised the need for software to be efficient in these markets due to current constraints.
