The Business Case for Belonging to a Gaming Association

Africa’s gaming industry has become  an established and increasingly important part of the continent’s entertainment and digital economy, writes Iyke Bede

With expanding markets, gradually emerging new ones, more sophisticated operators and greater regulatory attention across the continent, Africa’s gaming industry has grown considerably in recent years.

Yet while the industry continues to show strong promise, it still has a long way to go compared with leading gaming markets.

This gap is not only about market size, investment or technology. It also raises questions about the institutions that support an industry as it grows.

Across several established sectors, businesses with similar interests have historically come together through associations, creating platforms to share information, engage government and regulators, develop common standards, and address challenges that may be difficult for individual businesses to resolve alone. Some of these associations have remained important pillars of their respective industries, while others have changed with the times or ceased to exist.

For the gaming industry, the value of such collective organisation is becoming more relevant as operators contend with licensing, taxation, responsible gaming, anti-money laundering, technology and regulatory changes across different African markets.

These issues may affect individual businesses differently, but many are also common industry concerns that require collective engagement. Against this backdrop, SLEC Africa held its webinar, themed ‘The Collective Voice: Value of Representation in Africa’s Gaming Industry’, bringing together industry representatives from Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya to examine the role of associations and the value they bring to businesses operating in the sector.

Gift Tuadibofa, Executive Secretary of the Association of Nigeria Bookmakers, described belonging to an association as the “ultimate business decision” an organised group can make, particularly within a highly regulated industry such as gaming. According to her, associations provide collective representation for an industry’s needs, concerns, and trajectory, allowing businesses to engage regulatory and other external bodies through a common platform rather than approaching such issues individually.

For Tuadioba, however, representation is only one part of the value of belonging to an association. She identified access to information as another key benefit, arguing that businesses outside industry associations could face an information gap because developments affecting the sector are often communicated and shared collectively among members.

She also pointed to training, stakeholder meetings and capacity building around ethical and business practices as part of the role associations can play. In her view, the association should not simply provide a platform for members to raise concerns when a regulatory problem arises, but should also help them build the knowledge and capacity needed to operate effectively in a changing business environment.

Kenya provides an example of how this collective representation can extend into regulatory development. John Mutua, Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Gaming Operators Kenya, spoke about the association’s involvement in the country’s recent regulatory changes, including consultations and public participation around the Gambling Control Act, 2025. The new law replaced Kenya’s 1966 Betting, Lotteries and Gaming Act, bringing a new regulatory framework to a sector that has changed considerably with the growth of online betting and gaming.

Mutua said the association was involved in the consultation process and raised several issues with regulators, some of which were taken on board.

In Nigeria, Chima Onwuka, President of the Nigeria Licensed Lottery Operators Forum, discussed a different regulatory challenge arising from the Supreme Court’s 2024 judgment on the powers of the National Lottery Regulatory Commission. The judgment affected the previous nationwide regulatory structure. It strengthened states’ role in regulating gaming and lottery activities, raising new questions for operators about licensing, fees, duration, and the geographical scope of their licences.

The issue becomes more complicated when online operations are considered. An operator may hold licences in Lagos and Abuja. For instance, its online platform remains accessible to customers in other states where it does not hold a land-based licence. Onwuka identified this as a challenge, particularly for smaller operators considering regional licences, while larger operators may be better positioned to obtain broader licensing arrangements. The situation has consequently raised questions about how operators can conduct online business across jurisdictions while complying with different regulatory requirements.

Ghana’s experience brings taxation and regulatory reform further into the discussion. Dr Kweku Ainuson, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Association of Sports Betting Operators, said regulation has to evolve alongside the gaming industry, pointing to the changes that have occurred since Ghana’s Gaming Act of 2006 was introduced. The law predates the growth of online bookmakers and casinos, and Ainuson said it is currently under review, with a Gaming Bill and position paper submitted as part of the process.

Beyond regulation, he discussed stakeholder involvement in issues including anti-money laundering, taxation, and gross gaming revenue. Ghana removed betting, gaming and other games of chance from the scope of VAT from January 2023, while subsequent tax changes introduced a GGR-based framework and a 10 per cent withholding tax on winnings. Ainuson also linked some enforcement challenges to limited resources and technology, while discussing efforts to strengthen verification through the national identification system.

Responsible gaming also featured in Tuadibofa’s argument for a broader role for associations. She said responsible gaming should be embedded in every gaming organisation and that associations should encourage members to adopt standards that go beyond minimum regulatory requirements. Through training, workshops and other forms of capacity building, she said associations can help members attain higher standards rather than simply meeting the minimum requirements imposed by regulators.

She extended that argument to artificial intelligence, describing its adoption within the gaming industry as a balancing act. According to her, associations should be proactive in helping operators manage the risks associated with AI while equipping them with the knowledge and tools required to remain competitive. She identified fraud detection and anti-money laundering among the areas where AI can be deployed, while stressing the need for ethical use of the technology as the industry waits for regulatory policies to catch up with its development.

For Tuadibofa, this broader responsibility means associations should be regarded as trusted partners rather than lobbying groups. Their role, as reflected in her comments, extends from representing members before regulators to sharing information, building capacity, promoting higher standards and helping businesses prepare for changes in the industry.

Across the discussions from Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, the speakers pointed to different challenges facing operators in their respective markets, but their experiences also showed how industry associations can provide a platform for businesses with similar interests to engage those challenges collectively.

For an African gaming industry that is becoming more sophisticated and increasingly regulated, the question of representation is therefore closely linked to how businesses share information, participate in regulatory processes, develop common standards and prepare for the changes that come with the industry’s continued growth.