The rapid development of key betting and gaming markets across Africa continue to catch international attention, with the industry’s global betting integrity body increasingly fixated on the continent.

This week, the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) announced a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the African iGaming Alliance (AIA), an international trade body representing African gaming operators.

Sports integrity is the main focus of the deal, unsurprising given the IBIA’s general global mission. The duo have set objectives of supporting sustainable sports betting markets throughout Africa, with the IBIA acting as strategic integrity partner and the AIA as policy and regulation partner.

Khalid Ali, CEO of the IBIA, said: “Africa represents one of the most dynamic and fastest-growing betting markets in the world. Ensuring that this growth is underpinned by robust sports betting integrity standards and effective regulation is essential.

“Our partnership with the African iGaming Alliance reinforces our shared commitment to supporting a sustainable, well-regulated African betting industry that safeguards consumers and sporting competitions alike.”

All eyes turn to Africa

To achieve the stated objectives, the IBIA and AIA plan to exchange information, carry out joint engagement, and work towards coordinated policy initiatives around consumer protection, betting regulation, and anti-match-fixing.

The IBIA has been very much laser focused on Latin America over the past couple of years, unsurprising given the launch of Brazil’s huge market on 1 January this year – and the various sports integrity challenges that have come with this.

However, with more and more domestic and international operators now looking to emerging African markets, the continent is well and truly catching IBIA’s attention. Perhaps most indicative of the continent’s growing significance is Super Group’s Q3 results this week, with Africa continuing to be the biggest source of revenue for the Betway owner.

Some estimates put the total value of the pan-African gambling industry at €6.1bn in 2024, with projections for this to reach €11.3bn by 2032. Particularly valuable markets include Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria and South Africa, with the latter counting betting and gaming as a particularly significant economic sector.

This does come with regulatory challenges, however. Markets like Kenya, Ghana and Uganda regularly see tax changes, while South Africa and Nigeria only just secured removal from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list last month.

From an integrity standpoint, match-fixing challenges also remain. The IBIA’s 2024 report saw the number of alerts from Africa rise from 16 to 28, and its Q2 2025 report saw the continent account for 17% of alerts, the same as Latin America – though both remained behind Europe which accounted for 30%.

Commenting on the MoU, Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe, CEO of the AIA, said: “Integrity is the foundation of Africa’s betting future. This partnership between the AIA and IBIA represents a decisive step towards ensuring that Africa’s growing betting industry is anchored on trust, transparency, and accountability.

“As a pan-African industry platform, AIA is committed to working with global integrity leaders like IBIA to harmonise standards, promote responsible gaming, and support regulators in safeguarding markets from manipulation and illicit practices.

“Together, we can strengthen Africa’s credibility as a world-class, iGaming frontier.”

As a sidenote, until recently Kesitilwe held the role of CEO of the Botswana Gambling Authority, which looking ahead could only mean good things for the sports betting sector in the country.