Pan-African Regulatory Harmonisation: Five Leaders Detail What It Would Realistically Require

Focus Gaming News posed a single question to five leading figures in African gaming and regulation: what would it realistically take to move Pan-African regulatory harmonisation from conversation to a unified framework? The responses underscore persistent fragmentation, national sovereignty concerns, and the preference for shared principles over identical laws.

The contributors highlight differences in legal systems, market maturity, and governance models that make one-size-fits-all regulation impractical. They converge on the need for minimum standards in consumer protection, responsible gaming, anti-money laundering, and information sharing, while preserving jurisdictional flexibility.

Minimum Standards and Practical Cooperation

Arinze Arum, executive secretary/CEO of the Enugu State Gaming and Lotto Commission, cites “the significant differences in the legal, political, and regulatory structures across African jurisdictions.” He calls for a multilateral treaty or formal cooperation framework centered on shared principles, minimum regulatory standards, information sharing, responsible gaming, consumer protection, anti-money laundering measures, and cross-border collaboration.

Olabimpe Akingba, head of responsible gaming at pawaTech, argues harmonisation is misunderstood as requiring one law for all. She says regulators should agree on practical evidence-based minimum standards that reflect African realities for player protection, responsible advertising, measures to combat illegal operators, and information sharing between regulators. “Harmonisation is not about removing the independence of each African country; rather, it is about creating an environment where compliant operators can compete fairly, players are better protected and regulators can work together to build a sustainable gaming industry across Africa,” Akingba says.

Moruntshi Kemorwale, chief executive officer of the Gambling Authority of Botswana, advocates shifting from identical laws to common regulatory outcomes. Minimum standards should cover licensing, responsible gambling, anti-money laundering, consumer protection, cybersecurity, data governance, and ESG reporting. She suggests regional bodies can pilot initiatives such as cross-border information sharing, mutual recognition, joint enforcement against illegal online operators, and coordinated research on gambling-related harm.

Moss Gondwe, board member of the African Lotteries and Gaming Association (ALGA), stresses urgency driven by illegal operators, borderless online gambling, and the lack of strategies to combat underage gambling. He argues regulators, operators, and ALGA must cooperate to formulate joint strategies, protect revenue losses, exercise better control, and ensure investors get value for their investments.

Scepticism and Sovereignty Realities

Wendy Rosenberg, director at Werksmans Attorneys, is more sceptical, noting that “Africa has no supranational legal architecture capable of binding member states to a common regulatory framework.” National governments participate in workshops such as those hosted by the Gaming Regulators Africa Forum (GRAF) but ultimately prioritize domestic mandates. She points to South Africa’s internal fragmentation, with gambling as concurrent national and provincial competence and tensions between the National Gambling Board and provincial regulators over online betting. “If a single country cannot achieve internal alignment, continental harmonisation remains, realistically, an aspiration rather than an imminent prospect,” Rosenberg adds.

These views, as compiled by Focus Gaming News, make clear that progress depends on targeted collaboration around common outcomes rather than wholesale legal uniformity. For client-partners navigating these markets, the emphasis on practical minimum standards and regional pilots could mark an inflection point if sovereignty concerns are respected in implementation.

Reporting: Focus Gaming News