The African iGaming Alliance (AiA) has launched the inaugural Africa Safer Gambling Week, bringing regulators, gambling associations and industry stakeholders together for a coordinated player-protection campaign across the continent.
Running from 7 to 11 September 2026 under the #PlaySafeAfrica banner, the initiative is designed to strengthen responsible gambling practices, improve consumer protection and increase public awareness as regulated betting and gaming markets continue to develop across Africa. The campaign is planned to return annually.
Each day of the five-day programme focuses on a different safer-gambling issue. Topics include treating betting as entertainment rather than a source of income, setting personal spending limits, using tools such as self-exclusion and deposit or time limits, preventing underage gambling and highlighting the risks associated with illegal operators.
The wider programme combines regulatory and industry engagement with public education, digital awareness campaigns and community outreach. It also includes a continent-wide webinar bringing regulators and industry representatives together to discuss player protection.
AiA CEO Peter Emolemo Kesitilwe has positioned stronger safeguards as an essential part of Africa’s expanding gambling market. The alliance wants regulators and operators to cooperate more closely, share effective practices and ensure responsible gambling remains prominent in policy discussions.
Channelisation is another major theme of the campaign. AiA is encouraging players to use licensed and regulated operators, arguing that illegal gambling platforms can leave consumers without safeguards relating to age verification, responsible gambling controls, payment security, fair play and dispute resolution.
The issue will receive particular attention on 11 September, when iGaming AFRIKA and AiA host a webinar examining the impact of illegal and unlicensed gambling on player protection. The session will consider the scale of the black market, risks for consumers and ways regulators and licensed operators can improve channelisation.
The launch also comes during a wider push by AiA to deepen cooperation between gambling organisations in individual African markets.
On 4 September, the alliance signed a memorandum of understanding with the Association of Nigerian Bookmakers. The agreement establishes a framework for collaboration in Nigeria and across Africa, covering areas including responsible gambling, player protection, taxation and wider regulatory cooperation.
That followed an agreement with the Association of Gaming Operators of Kenya signed on 20 August. The three-year partnership covers regulatory engagement, safer gambling, consumer protection, taxation, licensing, anti-money laundering, payments, research and efforts to tackle illegal gambling and improve channelisation.
Through Africa Safer Gambling Week and its recent industry agreements, AiA is seeking to turn cross-border cooperation into practical measures aimed at supporting a safer and more sustainable regulated gambling sector across the continent.