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New Pan-African Responsible Gaming Network Promotes ‘Common Principles’ Across the Continent

By jili tutorial · September 23, 2026

New Pan-African Responsible Gaming Network Promotes ‘Common Principles’ Across the Continent

On Monday, a newly formed coalition known as the African Responsible Gaming Network (ARGN) launched with a mission to strengthen player protection and reduce gambling-related harm throughout Africa. Designed to serve as a bridge between industry stakeholders, regulators, researchers, and treatment providers, the ARGN represents a significant step forward in tackling harm in a rapidly expanding market. This guide looks deeper at what this network is, why it has emerged now, and what it hopes to accomplish across the continent.

Why a Continental Network Has Become Urgent

Sub-Saharan Africa’s online gambling market is expanding quickly, driven by widespread mobile phone adoption, accelerated internet connectivity, and a young, increasingly urban population. While this growth creates jobs and tax revenue, it also carries serious risks. Rising access to betting apps, sports wagering, and casino platforms has been accompanied by concerns over addictive behaviour, lack of consumer safeguards, and weak enforcement across different jurisdictions.

However, unlike Europe or North America, Africa operates as a patchwork of more than 50 independent legal environments. What gets enforced in Kenya, for example, may not exist in Nigeria, South Africa, or Ghana. This fragmentation makes it difficult for organisations working in the responsible gaming sphere to share best practices, gather meaningful regional data, or establish consistent educational campaigns. Recognising this gap, a coalition of stakeholders has created the ARGN to serve as the continent’s central vehicle for change.

What Is the African Responsible Gaming Network?

At its core, the ARGN is a coalition of stakeholders that includes responsible gaming organisations, academic researchers, and specialists in gambling treatment and recovery. By promoting cross-border cooperation, the initiative aims to create a unified platform where African countries can learn from each other and present a stronger collective response to gambling harms.

The network positions itself as supportive, not prescriptive. It does not intend to override the authority of national regulators or replace existing local organisations. Instead, it seeks to amplify their work by encouraging knowledge sharing and the development of shared solutions.

The Four Strategic Pillars of the ARGN

The network’s mission is built around four key strategic priorities. Each pillar addresses a specific need in the African responsible gaming landscape:

  1. A Pan-African Gambling Harm Report
    The ARGN will produce a comprehensive report on gambling harm compiled from research, emerging trends, and economic evidence across the entire continent. This evidence base is intended to allow policymakers to understand the true scale of the issue and tailor interventions accordingly.

  2. A Continental Directory of Support Services
    One of the biggest challenges for individuals facing gambling harm is simply knowing where to turn for help. The ARGN will develop a directory listing treatment, recovery, and support services available throughout Africa, giving struggling players and their families a clear point of contact in their own region.

  3. Policy Recommendations and Practical Measures
    Working with regulators and policymakers, the ARGN will help shape policy recommendations that strengthen responsible gaming frameworks. This includes looking at how regulatory systems are designed and identifying realistic, enforceable standards that can be implemented locally.

  4. Coordinated Awareness and Prevention Campaigns
    Instead of allowing individual countries to work in isolation, the ARGN aims to coordinate awareness and prevention initiatives that can be rolled out across multiple African markets. A unified approach makes campaigns more cost-effective and ensures that consistent messaging reaches more communities.

Leadership: A President from South Africa

Leading the network in its early stages is Lebo Seoheng, the advocacy and communications manager at the South African Responsible Gaming Foundation (SARGF). Seoheng has been appointed as the ARGN’s first president, bringing with him years of experience in player protection from one of Africa’s largest gambling markets.

Commenting on the network’s launch, Seoheng explained that the new organisation arrives at a critical moment. As Africa’s online gambling sector continues to grow, he argued, stronger player protection measures are becoming increasingly important to ensure sustainable market development.

Tackling the Fragmented Nature of Responsible Gambling

The ARGN was not created in a vacuum. According to Ladipo Abiose Akolade, founder of the GamblePause Initiative Africa and one of the original founding members of the ARGN, the network was born out of a simple observation: problem gambling is becoming a bigger issue across Africa, yet most responsible gambling efforts remain contained within individual countries.

“While many organisations are doing great work, there has been limited opportunity to learn from each other, share research, or work together on common challenges,” Akolade told iGB.

He said the organisation identified a clear gap in the market for a continent-wide network that could act as a hub for organisations dedicated to player protection. Crucially, Akolade emphasised that the ARGN is not designed to replace national organisations or regulators. Instead, its purpose is to bring stakeholders together and strengthen the work that is already happening by giving it a coordinated, collective voice.

Common Principles Rather Than Identical Regulations

One of the most important aspects of the ARGN’s philosophy is its pragmatic approach to policy. From the outset, the founders knew that a single, one-size-fits-all regulatory model would be impossible to implement in a continent as diverse as Africa.

“Every African country has its own legal framework, culture, and level of market development, so a single model might not work everywhere,” Akolade explained.

That said, the ARGN believes that basic principles should apply in every African market. These include:

By identifying these universal principles, the ARGN aims to help shape them into standards that can be adopted and implemented flexibly, respecting each country’s local realities.

Moving Beyond Paper-Based Rules

When asked what specific measures the ARGN hopes its work will achieve, Akolade was direct. The network intends to establish minimum player protection standards that go beyond the toothless, paper-based requirements that currently dominate the African landscape.

The ARGN is calling for:

“The current landscape pays lip service to responsible gaming, and you’d hardly see effective player protection architecture other than messages asking players to gamble responsibly and surface-level awareness campaigns,” Akolade said.

He also noted that responsible gaming regulations need to evolve from simple compliance documents into standards that are actively upheld and enforced as a regulatory requirement. For Akolade, achieving a minimum standard of player protection across African markets is a core goal of the ARGN.

Building on a Wider African Push for Player Protection

The ARGN’s launch arrives at an opportune time, coming just weeks after the inaugural Africa Safer Gambling Week.

Hosted by the African iGaming Alliance, that week brought together a wide range of stakeholders from across the sector. The event was designed to raise awareness of safer gambling practices and build momentum for a more responsible industry.

Peter Kesitilwe, CEO of the African iGaming Alliance, told iGB on that occasion that he hoped the event would be remembered as the beginning of a new era of collaboration in the industry.

“We want Africa Safer Gambling Week to create a platform for ongoing cooperation,” Kesitilwe said. “The campaign may run for a week, but responsible gambling must be practised throughout the year.”

This call for year-round vigilance aligns perfectly with the long-term goals of the ARGN, which aims to embed responsible gaming principles into the fabric of the industry rather than treating them as an annual or PR exercise.

Conclusion: A Step Toward a Safer, More United Africa

The launch of the African Responsible Gaming Network marks an important milestone in the evolution of the continent’s gambling landscape. By bringing together researchers, treatment specialists, and responsible gaming organisations, the ARGN has an opportunity to forge a coordinated and effective response to a growing crisis.

While no single network can solve every problem, the ARGN’s commitment to shared principles, evidence-based research, and locally adaptable standards makes it a promising force for change. Its success will ultimately depend on the participation of stakeholders across the continent — and on whether regulators are willing to embrace the minimum standards being proposed.

For now, the ARGN stands as an ambitious blueprint for what a truly pan-African approach to player protection might look like.