AiA CEO hopes Africa Safer Gambling Week can drive lasting change

African iGaming Alliance (AiA) CEO Peter Kesitilwe hopes the inaugural Africa Safer Gambling Week is the start of a new era for collaboration across the continent’s licensed sector.

The AiA hosted the first Africa Safer Gambling Week this week, bringing together stakeholders such as regulators, operators and industry associations on a range of issues relating to safer gambling.

As Kesitilwe explains, a key theme of the week has been turning conversations on safer gambling into practical actions.

He says the signs have so far been “very encouraging”, telling iGB: “The initiative demonstrates that cooperation does not have to remain at the level of conference and policy discussion.

“It has to translate into practical action, educating players, engaging communities, protecting young people and highlighting the dangers of illegal and unlicensed gambling.”

Africa’s Safer Gambling Week will be held annually, although Kesitilwe stresses player protection should be viewed through a daily lens.

“We want Africa Safer Gambling Week to create a platform for ongoing cooperation,” he adds.

“The campaign may run for a week, but responsible gambling must be practiced throughout the year.”

Diverse markets with shared risks

Each day of Africa Safer Gambling Week has centred on a different issue around player protection, including responsible gambling and the prevention of underage gambling.

Kesitilwe acknowledges that while Africa is one continent, it is also hugely diverse in terms of markets with different realities across regulatory structures and social contexts.

Therefore, the aim is not to create a single regulatory model, but rather continued collaboration that allows for locally relevant messaging and measures.

“We respect those differences,” Kesitilwe explains. “At the same time, many of these risks cross borders. We do not need identical laws in every country, but we do need greater cooperation.

“Africa Safer Gambling Week will create a common continental platform. It’s more about cooperation, information sharing and agreement on important principles of consumer protection.”

Another aim is to raise awareness and Kesitilwe reveals the campaign has generated over a million online impressions which, in his view, demonstrates “a real appetite” for enhanced safer gambling efforts in Africa.

Underage gambling a key issue

When asked what issue requires the most attention, Kesitilwe highlights underage gambling, especially as mobile penetration in Africa continues to soar.

Particularly concerning to Kesitilwe is the amount of gambling advertising in sports-related content.

“At a break or at half time you see 10 to 20 [gambling] adverts,” he says. “It’s come to a point that oftentimes I even hear my kids singing [gambling adverts]. They’ll just keep asking, ‘But Daddy, what is this? What does this mean?’

“Our position is unequivocal. Betting is an adult activity. Operators must maintain effective age verification, marketing must not target or appeal to children and regulators; parents, schools and communities must reinforce the same message.”

Illegal gambling undermining player protection measures

As part of Africa Safer Gambling Week, the AiA has also focused on the illegal market, with Kesitilwe highlighting that offshore operators are harmful for player protection.

For Kesitilwe, tackling the illegal market is not just a regulatory priority but a fundamental player protection issue.

“Oftentimes when you see governments increasing taxes, banning iGaming, it’s mainly because of illegal operators because they don’t comply,” he declares. “An illegal operator may not provide age verification, responsible gambling tools, secure treatment of player funds, or an effective complaints mechanism.

“So illegal operators undermine licensed businesses that invest in compliance, contribute to taxes and operate under regulatory oversight. We are where we are because of illegal operators. Oftentimes, licensed operators have licence conditions that they need to abide with.”

Kesitilwe highlights a recent study by Gaming Compliance International that estimated around 77% of Africa’s gambling market is offshore.

He believes the success of Africa Safer Gambling Week will largely be assessed on whether that channelisation improves by the next edition.

He warns governments and policymakers often misunderstand the primary causes of problem gambling, and therefore enforce measures that squeeze licensed operators and drive the illegal market.

AiA targeting lasting change in Africa

For the AiA, however, the longer-term ambition for Africa Safer Gambling Week extends beyond reducing the size of the offshore market.

Kesitilwe says the AiA also wants to develop a clearer picture of problem gambling across Africa and use that evidence to support engagement with governments and policymakers.

“We also, from the point of view of the Alliance, intend to do Africa-wide studies around prevalence of problem gambling in different markets, obviously working with regulators and associations,” he says.

Alongside this, the AiA wants to use the lessons from the inaugural week to broaden participation and establish the campaign as a permanent fixture.

“Our ambition is to expand participation each year and make the week an established feature of the African gambling calendar,” Kesitilwe continues.

“Success should not be measured only by whether all countries participate in one year. It should also be measured by whether we have created a credible foundation that more can join.”