South Africa’s Betting Industry Overtakes Kenya Following Record Growth in 2025

The Shift in Numbers

According to GeoPoll's Betting in Africa 2025 report, which surveyed respondents across Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda, 83% of South African respondents reported having placed a bet, placing the country first on the continent. ^[1]Kenya, the perennial leader, fell to second at 79%, followed by Tanzania at 74%, Nigeria at 73%, Uganda at 72%, and Ghana at 71%.

In 2022, Kenya led with 83.9% participation, while South Africa sat at 74%, nearly 10% lower.^[1]  By 2024, Kenya held at 82.8%, while South Africa had barely moved to 73.9%. ^[1] Then, between 2024 and 2025, South Africa rose nine percentage points in a single year, flying right past Kenya.

What Drove the Surge

South Africa's mobile betting penetration underwent a step change during this period, and now well over 80% of Saffas have a smartphone. According to TGM Research's South Africa Gambling and Sports Betting Report 2024, sports betting via apps jumped from 36% to 53% of all bettors between 2022 and 2024, almost entirely displacing desktop and in-person alternatives. ^[2]

Bookmakers are enjoying record sports betting profits. According to the National Gambling Board's (NGB) audited statistics for the financial year ending 31 March 2025, operators generated R52 billion in GGR, which is up 44% from the last period. Online platforms accounted for 60.5% of total GGR across all provinces. ^[3]

Betting sites are reinvesting these profits by running extensive advertising campaigns across South Africa. Hollywoodbets and Betway combined spent over R1 billion on advertising and signing highly visible deals with the PSL and Springboks, causing a flood of new users.

By comparison, Kenya's regulatory crackdown, which included strict advertising bans and restrictions on mobile money integration which was introduced in stages from 2023, actively constrained its market during the same period. 

Worryingly, an increasing number of South Africans are turning to gambling to relieve economic pressure as a driver. Old Mutual's Savings and Investment Monitor 2025 found that 52% of working South Africans gamble, with sports betting ranking as the most popular activity at 61%. ^[3] Crucially, 40% of working South Africans reported gambling frequently to cover household expenses or repay debt, up from 36% the previous year. ^[3]

The Household Impact

Statistics South Africa has formally incorporated gambling into its 2025 Consumer Price Index (CPI) basket, a recognition of how embedded the activity has become in household spending patterns. ^[4] Gambling now accounts for 1.6% of total household expenditure, the 12th highest weighted item in the basket, ranking just behind beer. ^[4]

Within the recreation, sport, and culture category, which carries a 2.86% total weight, gambling dominates, accounting for more than half of all spending in that group. ^[4] That figure was 12.3% before the pandemic. It now stands at 26.7%, according to the Bureau for Economic Research. ^[5]

The Increases in Problem Gambling in ZA

The increase in participation has not come without cost. The NGB's 2024/25 data shows that overall gambling participation in South Africa reached 65.7%, with 31% of active gamblers now classified as problem gamblers. ^[6] That figure stood at just under 6% in 2017.

The South African Responsible Gambling Foundation recorded a 55% rise in addiction-related helpline contacts in 2024/25, with the absolute number climbing from 2,662 to 4,166 in a single year. ^[7] Among 18-to-35-year-olds specifically, treatment referrals grew from 787 to 2,034 over the same period. ^[8]

South Africa and Kenya Diverging in Terms of Regulation

After Kenya's regulatory authorities implemented advertising restrictions, including celebrity endorsement bans and mandatory content classification requirements, gambling advertising spend in Kenya fell 89% within a single quarter, from KSh 1.2 billion to KSh 131 million. ^[9]

Despite the NGB's acting CEO, Lungile Dukwana, identifying gambling influencers on social media as the "number one" advertising concern ^[10], South Africa has yet to clamp down on it and other forms of promotional content. Until ZA enacts much stricter regulations, bookies are going to continue to spend billions on sports sponsorships, celebrity partnerships, and nonstop digital advertising, further accelerating betting participation.