Sports betting is embedded in everyday digital life for young Africans, with football dominant and mobile phones the main channel, a public health researcher says after reviewing sub-Saharan Africa evidence.
Industry projections cited in the interview suggest annual betting revenue across Africa could rise from US$3.5 billion in 2021 to US$19.4 billion by 2030, with South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana among the largest markets.
The central change over the past decade, Glozah said, is access: a smartphone, internet connection and mobile money mean a bet can be placed almost anywhere at any time, without visiting a betting shop.
Survey figures point to how concentrated that activity is on football.
A 2026 survey of 2,866 people across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda found that 64% of respondents in Kenya, 60% in Ghana and 54% in Nigeria reported betting on football in the preceding year.
Among active bettors surveyed, 95% placed bets on a mobile device and 67% said football was what they bet on most often. Glozah noted the figures are not nationally representative.
In his own study of 770 young people in Ghana, sports betting was the most common form of gambling, and he said more recent surveys suggest the pattern continues.
Football’s popularity, its regular fixture schedule, heavy media coverage and betting promotions may help explain why the sport attracts so much betting activity, he said.
Glozah argued that betting should not be assumed to be simple entertainment for young people.
For some, it can appear to offer a source of income, a prospect that carries weight on a continent with a large youth population and where many young people face uncertain economic futures.
Gambling is not a reliable way to earn a living, he said, and losses can hit money that is already scarce.
Research also links young people’s attitudes to gambling with their social surroundings.
Glozah said those who experience conflict or a lack of support at home are more likely to view gambling positively, while those who feel valued and supported develop less interest in it.
His broader research found young Ghanaians who felt they had more social support reported lower stress and better health and wellbeing. He cautioned against simply blaming young people for gambling.
A global study in 2024 estimated that 8.7% of adults who gamble online experience problematic gambling, with harms including financial difficulties, psychological distress and relationship problems.
Glozah said far less is known about the companies selling gambling products than about problem gambling and individual risk factors, including how they advertise, how betting becomes associated with football, how digital technology makes gambling available around the clock, and whether regulation has kept pace.
Africa’s betting industry includes locally owned businesses and international operators, some headquartered outside the continent and operating through subsidiaries, partnerships or locally licensed businesses.
International operators have expanded in African markets through football sponsorships, advertising, online betting platforms and mobile technologies, he said.
In a separate study, Glozah and colleagues examined gambling regulation across 49 African countries. Gambling was legally regulated in 41, but approaches to online gambling, advertising and oversight varied widely.
Only 15 of the 41 countries had legislation explicitly addressing online gambling, while 18 had legislation covering gambling advertising. Some countries had dedicated gambling regulators and others relied on government departments, and public reporting was very limited in many countries.
Glozah described an imbalance in which young people are asked to gamble responsibly while surrounded by an environment where betting is increasingly easy to access and heavily commercialised.
He called for regulation that responds to the gambling environment rather than treating gambling only as an individual behavioural problem, including scrutiny of how gambling is advertised and promoted and of its relationship with football and other sports.
Age restrictions need to work in practice rather than exist only on paper, and regulators need better information on who is gambling, how much they are spending and what harms are occurring.
He also framed the issue as a development question.
If some young people turn to betting because they see few other opportunities to improve their economic situation, gambling policy alone cannot address the conditions that make betting attractive, he said, and governments need to complement regulation with policies responding to youth unemployment and economic insecurity.
Source: The Conversation
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