The African Cup of Nations begins on December 21 when hosts Morocco face the island nation of Comoros. 24 teams from across the continent will face off for the confederation competition which underlines the intense national pride in Africa. 

It is also set to be a huge betting event. With several regulated markets, Africa has been touted as a key growth region for operators who can localise properly. 

Player protection is also of the utmost importance, and 1xBet’s Strategic Advisor Simon Westbury caught up with SBC News to chat about the opportunities that Africa offers, how operators can properly localise to be in tune with African bettors, and about part two of SBC Media and 1xBet’s International Player Safety Index focusing on Africa.

SBC News: Can you some up some of the diversity there is in African markets and how does 1xBet segment different jurisdictions?

Simon Westbury: When people talk about “the African market”, it’s often said as if it were one unified space. It isn’t and is in fact one of the most diverse regions in global gaming. Africa is a continent of 50+ countries, each with its own regulatory position, cultural attitudes to betting, digital infrastructure and economic realities. If Western Europe is varied, Africa is several degrees more complex.

In some countries, mobile-first behaviour dominates; in others, retail remains the preferred touchpoint. Payments can be instant and sophisticated in one market and almost entirely cash-based in the next. And the regulatory spectrum ranges from well-established frameworks to places still formalising their first set of responsible gaming rules.

Because of this, we don’t treat Africa as a region, we treat it as a collection of individual jurisdictions. Our segmentation is built around five pillars: regulatory maturity, digital infrastructure, cultural attitudes, local protection expectations and the partnership landscape around regulators, agents, clubs, and broadcasters.

This detail matters for one reason: player protection must reflect local reality. One of the strongest findings in the first Player Protection Index – Western Europe report was the need for earlier, more consistent intervention and while the principle holds everywhere, the execution must be tailored.

Our approach in Africa is straightforward: listen first, adapt second, and build with regulators, not around them. That’s how you create trust and deliver player protection that is meaningful, not theoretical.

SBC: What makes Africa a continent ripe for iGaming growth and how do you sum up the opportunity in regulated markets? 

SW: When you spend time working across African markets, you quickly realise the potential isn’t a future prediction, it’s already here. You’ve got an incredibly young population, a mobile-first culture and a connection to sport that is woven into daily life. That combination creates a natural appetite for digital engagement, and betting is part of that wider cultural ecosystem.

But what excites me most isn’t just the scale of the opportunity, it’s the regulatory shift happening across several jurisdictions. More governments are recognising the value of structured frameworks that protect players, create transparency and give operators a clear path for long-term investment. When regulation is done well, it doesn’t restrict growth; it accelerates it. And that’s what we’re beginning to see in parts of Africa.

One of the real advantages African regulators have is the ability to build responsible gaming standards almost from scratch. Unlike in Europe, where frameworks had to evolve over years of trial and error, some African markets can move straight to modern, proportionate, player-first rules that reflect local culture and behaviour. That’s a rare opportunity in our industry in my opinion.

For 1xBet, the opportunity in regulated African markets comes down to three simple principles.
First, partner early and build trust before scale. Second, localise in a way that respects how each country actually works, not how we think it should work. And third, make sure player protection sits at the centre of the operating model and not as a compliance line item, but as part of the experience itself.

SBC: What are the main things to consider from a consumer demand perspective across Africa? How do players like to bet across the continent and how does 1xBet cater to that? 

SW: Whenever you talk about consumer demand in Africa, the first thing you must accept is that there is no single African player. The continent is vast, young, mobile-first and culturally layered; if you ignore that diversity, you misunderstand the opportunity from day one.

What we see consistently, though, is a preference for low-stake, high-frequency betting and a real appetite for in-play. Speed matters. Confirmation matters. And trust in the brand, the product, in payments, in odds, in outcomes, which matters perhaps more than anywhere else. 

I remember a conversation with a local partner in Kenya who summed it up simply: ‘Make it fast, make it fair and I’m with you.’ That’s stayed with me because it captures the mindset across so many markets.

At the same time, it’s important to recognise that this is already a highly competitive environment. Players rarely stay loyal to a single operator. You don’t “win” a customer once — you have to earn your place on their device every single day, and the brands that forget this fall behind quickly.

Mobile dominates the user journey. Data is expensive in some regions, patchy in others, so products must load quickly, work smoothly on mid-range devices, and keep friction out of the way. Players want an experience that feels familiar, not foreign and that means local languages, local leagues, localised content, and payments they already trust.

Payments are absolutely central to this. In several African markets, the deposit experience determines the relationship with the brand more than the bet itself. That’s why we’ve built our platform to integrate with local wallets and payment preferences wherever possible.

At 1xBet, our job is to design for the local reality, not force global templates onto it. That means lighter apps, simpler UX, thoughtful data usage and markets tailored to the way people actually bet in each country and not how we imagine they should bet.

And layered through all of this is something even more important: responsible gaming. Early intervention must be culturally grounded and proportionate. What worked in Europe won’t automatically translate. 

So, as we prepare for the Africa edition of the Player Protection Index, the focus is on understanding these nuances and how early-stage risk presents itself, how players communicate and how we can support safer experiences without disrupting enjoyment or trust.

SBC: Which jurisdictions in Africa have established iGaming regulations and are there any markets that you would identify as having best-in-class frameworks? 

SW: South Africa is the clearest example of a long-standing, structured regime. Multiple provincial boards, established licensing processes and a cultural understanding of betting that goes back decades. It’s not without its complexities, and no market is, but it’s a jurisdiction where clarity and consistency give operators a stable foundation to work from.

Kenya and Nigeria are also important benchmarks, each in their own way. Kenya has shown leadership in mobile-led oversight, reflecting the way consumers actually bet. Nigeria is vast and decentralised, but its regulators have made real progress in tightening standards and coordinating expectations across states. These aren’t perfect systems, but they are evolving transparently and that matters.

What I personally value in a regulatory framework is not its rigidity or its volume of rules, but its predictability, because predictability is what allows operators to design meaningful player-protection systems. Markets that publish clear guidance, invite dialogue, and update frameworks based on evidence tend to outperform those that legislate by reaction.

From 1xBet’s perspective, we operate in more than 35 regulated markets globally, so our first instinct is always to understand the regulator’s intent. Where are the pressure points? How can we support early-stage intervention without destabilising the player experience?

That’s why the Africa edition of the Player Protection Index is so important. If Western Europe taught us anything, it’s that the strongest frameworks are built when operators and regulators meet early, meet openly, and share data not to assign blame, but to improve outcomes.

SBC: What is your relationship with regulators across Africa and how does it differ from Western Europe? 

SW: Our relationship with regulators is built on conversation. Many of these markets are still shaping their frameworks, so you’re often invited into the room early to discuss what good looks like and how player protections can work in practice. It’s a very engaged and human process, and that openness allows us to contribute meaningfully to how the industry develops.

Western Europe is different. The regulatory structures are mature, the expectations are precise, and operators must align with a well-defined rulebook. There’s less room to help shape the direction because the direction has already been set. The focus there is on consistency, documentation, and operational rigour.

In Africa, the emphasis is collaboration; in Europe, it’s compliance. Both are valid, but they require different approaches. Across Africa, regulators generally want to understand how technology, data, and risk models function on the ground. When you share that openly and listen to their concerns, trust builds quickly and that trust becomes the basis for long-term stability.

For me, the principle doesn’t change by continent: start with transparency, engage early, and put the player at the centre of the discussion. When you do that, the regulator–operator relationship becomes far more productive, whether you’re working in Lagos, Nairobi, or Western Europe.

SBC: What do you think the biggest player protection challenges are in Africa? How do you plan to overcome those challenges, and how can this report help in that regard?

SW: The biggest challenges in Africa come from its market diversity—varying regulations, digital adoption, and cultural attitudes mean there’s no single approach. Addressing this requires locally informed strategies, integrating responsible gaming into the core experience, and building trust through transparency. 

The Africa edition of the Player Safety Index is vital because it provides data-driven insights, enabling operators and regulators to create safer, sustainable markets that balance player protection with innovation and growth.

SBC: Operating in Africa presents several challenges and as Westbury notes there are plenty of hyper local nuances one must be aware of before taking action. 

From a player protection perspective it is imperative to understand how bettors interact with the product in different parts of the continent; equally, understanding regulators’ perspectives is essential to grasping the compliance requirements and pain points from a safety perspective. 

That is why 1xBet and SBC Media is presenting part two of the International Player Safety Index focusing on Africa. The report will be available to download from SBC News soon.