Betting is one of the most active digital consumer categories in sub-Saharan Africa. In June and July 2026, GeoPoll surveyed 2,866 people across six of the continent’s largest betting markets to measure participation, product choice, frequency, channel, and spend. This report covers the survey questions, with country comparisons.

The headline is a market where betting is mainstream, runs overwhelmingly on mobile, and is played often. Beyond those constants, product choice and spending split the region into distinct markets. Football anchors betting almost everywhere, but South Africa runs on casino games instead. Kenya leans into fast crash-style games. Uganda spends the most per month. The takeaway for operators and advertisers is that a single continental strategy will misread most of these markets.

The findings sit inside a fast-growing industry. Industry estimates put Africa’s sports betting market at around 3 billion US dollars in 2025, with the wider gambling sector valued near 17.6 billion dollars and more than 440 million bettors across the continent. Cheap smartphones, expanding mobile internet, and widely used mobile money have turned betting into a mobile-first habit. This survey continues GeoPoll’s annual tracking of the category, building on our earlier Betting in Africa studies.

How many people bet

Betting participation is high across the region. Asked whether they had placed a bet in the past 12 months, between 54 and 64 percent of respondents said yes, led by Kenya at 64 percent and Ghana at 60 percent.

The rest of the findings in this report are based on people who have placed a bet in the past, so the sections that follow describe the behavior of active bettors

What people bet on

Football is the dominant product overall, named by 67 percent of bettors as what they play most often. Aviator and other crash-style games follow at 13 percent, casino games at 11 percent, and lotteries at 5 percent.

The regional average hides the sharpest divide in the study. Football leads in five markets, reaching 84 percent of bettors in Uganda, 81 percent in Nigeria, and 78 percent in Tanzania. South Africa is the exception: football reaches only 29 percent there, while casino games lead at 36 percent and lotteries draw 16 percent, both far above any other market. Kenya stands out separately for Aviator at 24 percent, roughly double the next-highest market. This mirrors a wider trend: game provider Spribe reports Aviator player numbers in Africa grew about 54 percent year on year, as lightweight crash games win share from traditional sports betting.

South Africa’s product mix reflects the region’s most developed and tightly regulated gambling market. The country’s National Gambling Board reports that online betting now generates about 60 percent of national gambling revenue, and Statistics South Africa has documented a rising national appetite for gambling and betting. The wider range of casino and lottery products available to South African bettors helps explain why their preferences look so different from those in the football-led markets to the north.

How often people bet

Betting is frequent, and the pattern is consistent across the region. Once a week is the single most common answer. Overall, 55 percent of bettors play at least weekly, and 28 percent play once a day or more. Country-level frequency varies only slightly, so this is best read as a regional constant: this is a high-frequency category, not an occasional one.

The mobile channel is universal

There is almost no variation by channel. Across all markets, 95 percent of bettors place bets on a mobile device, ranging narrowly from 94 percent in Uganda to 96 percent in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. Mobile is not a growing channel here, it is effectively the only channel. Mobile experience, data cost, and app or web performance are the real competitive battleground rather than a secondary consideration.

How much people spend

Monthly betting spend is modest for most bettors and concentrated at the low end. Overall, 58 percent spend under 10 US dollars a month and another 24 percent spend between 10 and 25 dollars. Only about 10 percent spend 50 dollars or more.

Spend is where Uganda separates from the rest. Only 35 percent of Ugandan bettors spend under 10 dollars, 40 percent fall in the 10 to 25 dollar band, and 6 percent report spending above 500 dollars a month, the highest high-spender share in the region. South Africa also skews higher, with 11 percent spending 50 dollars or more. Tanzania is the most value-conscious market, with 67 percent under 10 dollars.

Who is betting

The betting audience skews young. The 25 to 34 age group is the largest segment overall at 45 percent, followed by 18 to 24 at 26 percent and 35 to 44 at 23 percent. Older bettors are a small minority.

Age tilts by market are worth noting. Uganda is the youngest-concentrated, with 59 percent of respondents aged 25 to 34. Kenya has the strongest 18 to 24 presence at 36 percent. South Africa is the oldest, with 38 percent aged 35 to 44 and 11 percent aged 45 to 54, the highest older share in the study.

Gender is the sharpest demographic contrast. Overall, 69 percent of respondents are male. Betting audiences are heavily male in Ghana (82 percent), Tanzania (78 percent), Uganda (76 percent), and Nigeria (73 percent), more balanced in Kenya (61 percent male), and reversed in South Africa, where women make up 54 percent, the only market where female bettors are the majority.

What it means for the market

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Following our joint report with Ipsos, on the reaction to the crackdown on gambling in Kenya and the suspension of several gambling firms’ licenses, GeoPoll is pleased to release additional data on the prevalence of betting in Kenya, popular types of betting, and the impact that smartphone ownership has had on gambling. This study was conducted by SMS with a sample size of 600 immediately prior to the July 1 regulations taking effect. To purchase GeoPoll’s full reports on gambling in Kenya or request a custom report on certain aspects of gambling in Kenya or other countries please contact us. 

Prevalence of Gambling in Kenya

GeoPoll’s study found that out of those age 18+ in Kenya, 57% have participated in gambling in the past, including 69% of males and 44% of females. Of those who gamble, 47% are light gamblers who place bets once a month or less, and only 10% of gamblers place bets more than once a day. The study finds that gambling is most popular among males aged 25-34, of whom 77% have gambled in the past, with 58% of this group gambling at least once a week. Females age 35+ are the least likely participants in gambling; Only 46% of this population have ever gambled.

Of those who have not gambled in the past, 39% report that they are not interested, and 27% state a lack of money prevents them from gambling. Those aged 25-34 who do not participate in gambling are most likely to report that this is because of either a lack of money or the fear of losing money – 48% of these participants cited a money-based reason for not gambling, compared to 36% of those aged 35+ and 31% of those aged 18-24, suggesting that this group is interested in gambling but feels a responsibility to not spend their money on gambling.

Mobile Phones and Betting in Kenya

GeoPoll also confirmed that mobile phones have been at the forefront of the gambling industry in Kenya. There are stark differences in gambling prevalence among smartphone owners vs non-smartphone owners, with just 40% of those owning basic phones gambling, compared to 64% of smartphone owners. Females who own a basic mobile phone are the least likely to have gambled, with only 27% of this group placing bets or gambling.

In addition, among those who have gambled, mobile applications are by far the most popular medium for doing so; 88% of gamblers have used their mobile device to place bets, and 55% of those are gambling on their phone once a week or more. This makes mobile-based gambling both the most popular and the most frequently used method of gambling, demonstrating how the ease of access to mobile gambling has changed the betting industry dramatically.

Casinos are less popular, with only 36% of gamblers reporting that they place bets in casinos, and a third of those who go to casinos stating that they do so once a month or less. Cyber cafes and betting shops are also less frequently used for betting than mobile, with only 28% and 33% of the gambling population respectively noting that they place bets through these shops.

Gamblers in Kenya are most likely to bet by themselves, with 40% noting that they place bets alone most often, however 38% bet with friends, demonstrating that even with the popularity of mobile apps betting can be a social sport.

Football Betting Reigns Supreme

In terms of what people in Kenya are betting on, football is the most popular type of betting – 83% report that they bet on football most often, followed by lotteries which 11% report is their most common form of betting. Lotteries are most popular with the older age group, 22% of which say lotteries are their preferred type of gambling, and females are also more likely to bet through lotteries than males. The popularity of football betting has also been found in previous GeoPoll reports on the World Cup, during which 77% of those in Kenya said they had placed bets, and AFCON, which 83% of Kenyan gamblers planned to place bets on.

Demonstrating the loyalty gamblers have to their preferred betting type, we find that 37% report they do not have a secondary preferred betting type, and 26% say sports other than football are their second most frequent source of bets.

Data on Gambling in Kenya

GeoPoll has conducted numerous studies on gambling in Kenya dating from 2017 through to the July 2019 suspensions. To purchase our gambling data or request a custom report on the state of gambling in Kenya, contact us today.

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In April this year, GeoPoll ran a quantitative nationwide survey via mobile SMS to a sample of 1300 respondents whose demography had a 50:50 male to female ratio aged 18-45 years old. Our objective was to gain a deeper understanding of the Kenyan betting consumer, their consumption and gambling behavior, drivers, motivations and decision-making patterns.

In this article, we share some of the findings, particularly from the low-income earners who fall in the lowest social economic class according to Living Standards Measures (LSM).

In Sub-Saharan Africa, gambling has become a multi-billion dollar business. It is estimated that by the year 2022, the global gambling market could be worth $635 billion according to new findings by Dublin-based Research and Markets.

A 2017 PWC report put Kenya and Nigeria among the three largest gambling markets in Africa behind South Africa.  In addition, a 2017 GeoPoll study observed that gambling was becoming popular particularly among males in SSA due to their high affinity towards sports and technology, combined with the proliferation of local sports betting players and the convenience of the mobile phone as a tool for gambling.

Gambling: The Billion Dollar Industry in Africa

The gambling industry in Kenya has several sub-sectors including gaming, lotteries, sports betting and prize competitions. Kenya currently has more than 30 licensed betting firms and casinos.

A gambling outlook 2017-2021 report by PWC shows that the yearly turnover of the sports betting industry in Kenya is worth $20 million, and will reach $50 million in 2020 as demand grows. The formal Kenyan betting industry, which paid $28.3 million in taxes in 2015, is ranked third in Africa after South Africa and Nigeria, as reported by Business Daily.

Figures from the Kenyan gambling regulator, Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB), show that gross gambling revenue for the 2016/2017 financial year was nearly Ksh 20 billion ($198m) – equivalent to about half of the annual health budget according to businesstoday.co.ke.

Why Kenya has become a hotbed for Sport Betting

In Kenya, like in many other African countries, gambling is classified and positioned as a legitimate recreational and leisure activity. The rise of mobile and online based gambling has presented new challenges to the regulatory board amidst growing concerns on addiction towards sports betting.

Although gambling in Kenya has been around for some time now, the upsurge in sports betting has been due to the burgeoning of mobile phones and internet penetration, as our 2017 survey demonstrated.

The unprecedented success of sports betting companies can be seen with SportPesa- a betting company started in 2013, which managed to accumulate revenue enough to fund major premier leagues in Kenya before breaking into the international arena. Our study found SportPesa to be the most popular online platform in Kenya with 82% percent of gamblers subscribing to it, followed by Betin 40%, Elitebet 22%, Betika 12%, Mcheza 12%, and Betpawa 10%.

The success of this booming industry is also evidenced by the advertising spend of top betting companies. According to the latest data from Reelforge. the traditional top 10 advertising spenders have been overtaken by multiple gaming companies.

Understanding the Gambling Low Income Consumer

Low-income earners classified as LSM DE, who, according to a 2017 KARF establishment survey constitute 54% of Kenya’s population, offer a rich target market for the betting industry. According to our survey, the betting industry’s rags to riches narrative of poor rural folk holding huge cheques outside their mud huts, and stories of overnight millionaires has continued to resonate with the poor and low-income earners. While our study found that this group bets with amounts as low as KSH 10 – 50, their huge numbers multiply the tiny quantities into millions.

Their Demographic Profile

The gambling low-income consumers are spread out across the various demographic breaks such as age, gender, location with higher skews on particular profiles such as those of males of a certain age based in the urban areas. Both males and females participate in gambling, though our data show that males participate more often.

Across the age groups, it is notable that about half of low-income gambling consumers are 18-25 years. It is likely that the youth are most involved given the high affinity to mobile phones, sports, and unemployment rates.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics 2018 data, 7 million Kenyans are unemployed and out of this 1.4 million have been desperately looking for work. Our survey found that the highest proportion (40%) of the low-income gambling consumer is unemployed, and a third (29%) are students. This shows that a significant percentage of the low-income gambling consumer hope that gambling will turn into a source of income for them.

Custom Gambling Surveys

If you would like to commission a bespoke survey to understand the share of wallet effect that gambling is having on your goods and services, contact us today.

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Based on a rapid survey conducted by GeoPoll earlier this year, over 50% of earnings by youth consumers is  spent on personal care. This is much higher than gambling. As noted in the report, gambling is becoming popular among male African Millennials in SSA due to their high affinity towards sports and the proliferation of local sports betting players.

As highlighted in that report, this is still a very nascent industry and in the survey on spending habits, only 3 percent of Youth consumers in SSA indicated that they spend part of their income on gambling.

In this deep dive report, we sought to further explore the effects of continued targeted marketing by betting companies towards this age group and get better insights into; exactly how much is spent, how frequently and on what, are the youth betting.

Gambling frequency

Most youth (54%) in SSA have tried their hand at gambling. Kenya has the highest number of youth who have participated in gambling or betting in the past at 76% followed by Uganda at 57%. Ghana has the least number at 42%

The frequency of gambling is highest among Kenyans compared to their fellow Africans. Whilst the rest bet mostly once a month, a majority of Kenyans bet once a week. As seen in the graph below, sports betting is the most preferred. The fixtures for football matches especially the English premier league are over the weekends.

Sports Betting
 

Among the most popular gambling options, football betting reigns in all other countries except in South Africa. Kenyan youths bet the most with 79% of bets placed on football matches.

In South Africa, lotteries are a more preferred gambling choice compared to football, casino, racing and poker.

Mobile usage

The mobile phone has become the most convenient tool for those gambling. 75% of those who bet do so using their mobile phones with Kenya having the highest number of mobile usage for gambling at 96%. South Africa, though having the highest rate of mobile penetration in Africa, has the lowest usage of the mobile for gambling at 48%.

The Jackpot

Kenya is the leader in the most amount of money spent on gambling. Unlike youth in other African countries, most Kenyan youth bet once a week spending about $50 per month mostly on football bets. Youth elsewhere spend less than 50USD a month and most bet only once a month.

The average amount spent on bets is below $50 per month. A majority have never won any amount above $50.

Mobile phones have become the African Las Vegas. Football betting and the popularity of English football leagues continue to grow in a symbiotic way with a growing youth population that continues to be defined by its uptake of technology. Although the stakes are not yet high, all the signs are there of a steady and unfettered domination of sports entertainment and gambling in sub-Saharan Africa.

This GeoPoll rapid survey was conducted in March 2017 among 3,879  youth in Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria and Tanzania using the GeoPoll mobile App.

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