Eleven African Nations Form Responsible Gaming Network to Tackle Fragmented Harm Prevention
ARGN launched to coordinate responsible gaming across 11 African countries amid $23B GGR in 2025, 77% unlicensed. It prioritizes a harm report, treatment directory, policy recommendations and awareness while favoring common principles over uniform rules. The network supports rather than supplants national efforts.
SCCG Take — Operators face potential compliance uplift from shifting voluntary measures to enforced standards. Regulators gain shared data to tailor frameworks that curb illegal operators while respecting jurisdictional differences.
The African Responsible Gaming Network (ARGN) launched to improve cooperation on responsible gaming and gambling-harm prevention. The network unites representatives from South Africa, Nigeria, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Malawi, Botswana, Namibia, Cameroon, Uganda and Eswatini, along with partners from Austria.
Founding members include Gamble Pause Initiative Africa, Gamble Aware Nigeria and the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation. Lebo Seoheng, advocacy and communications manager at the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation, was named ARGN president. The launch follows rapid market growth that has made player protection more urgent.
Ladipo Abiose Akolade, founder of GamblePause Initiative Africa, said the network was established to address the fragmented state of responsible gambling work across the continent. “ARGN was created because problem gambling is becoming a bigger issue across Africa and most responsible gambling efforts still happen within individual countries,” Akolade told iGaming Business.
Scale of Gambling Harm
A Gaming Compliance International report projected Africa’s online gambling industry generated $23 billion in gross gaming revenue in 2025, with 77% of that total occurring outside licensed sites. A review published in The Lancet Public Health found that 80.3 million adults in Africa gambled in the past year, of whom 11.2 million showed signs of gambling issues. In South Africa the National Gambling Board reported that 31% of respondents indicated gambling issues in 2024-2025, compared with less than 6% in 2017.
Unlicensed operators generated $17.8 billion of the $23 billion total, up from $15.6 billion in 2024. The number of unregulated platforms targeting African consumers rose from 3,644 to 4,129.
Common Principles Over Uniform Rules
ARGN outlined four priorities: a pan-African gambling harm report, a directory of treatment and support services, policy recommendations for regulators, and coordinated awareness campaigns. The network maintains that a single regulatory model is unlikely to work across Africa given differences in legal frameworks, market development and culture. Akolade said ARGN intends to promote common principles rather than identical regulations, including protecting minors, effective self-exclusion, responsible advertising and access to support.
The initiative does not replace national organisations or regulators. Its stated purpose is to connect stakeholders, share research and strengthen existing work. As reported by Yogonet International, success will hinge on whether these principles translate into enforceable obligations that address both licensed and unlicensed activity without ignoring local realities.
Reporting: Yogonet International
Generated by SCCG’s automated editorial system from published source reporting. SCCG Management holds editorial responsibility.
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