Africa’s Betting Boom Puts Retailers and Telcos Under Pressure
Africa’s online gambling growth now hits consumer-facing businesses well outside the betting sector, according to executives at Shoprite, MTN, Woolworths and Absa. H2 Gambling Capital expects the continent’s gross gaming revenue to reach $13.5bn in 2026, more than double its 2023 level.
Shoprite CEO Pieter Engelbrecht told Bloomberg that consumers are spending money “in a black hole” that could have gone to food. MTN flagged the same issue in its 2025 annual report and attributed muted prepaid mobile growth in South Africa to a higher share of disposable income directed at betting.
The pressure is clearest in South Africa. Absa data shows betting spend has risen around 50% per year over the past three years, even as wider consumer spending weakens. Absa CEO Kenny Fihla called gambling trends a “huge predictor” of loan delinquency. “The more clients become indebted, the more they gamble and the bigger the hole becomes,” he said. “This is a massive problem that quite frankly, we’re worried about.”
The financial distress is visible in credit data. The loan default rate for gamblers in South Africa has risen four times faster than for non-gamblers, up 2% month on month, according to Experian and finance app Vault22. Standard Bank research shared with Bloomberg found that the average share of income spent on gambling doubled to 2% between 2021 and 2025. Around 7% of users spend more than their full income on betting and draw on credit to continue.
Gambling has become the 12th highest category in South Africa’s consumer price index, just behind beer, and now accounts for 54.5% of all leisure spending, ahead of sport, cinema and gym memberships, according to the state statistics agency.
Retailers and Telcos Feel the Squeeze
Retailers treat online betting as a direct competitor for wallet share. Woolworths CEO Roy Bagattini said parts of the group’s business are more exposed because gambling draws from discretionary spend. Oscar Bishop, a recovering gambling addict and ambassador of the South African Responsible Gambling Foundation, said people are “blowing their salaries on online gambling before they pay rent, school fees, transport,” and called for advertising bans and monthly spending limits.
On the supply side, momentum has built fast. New York-listed Super Group, which operates Betway and Spin, exited the US to focus on Africa, with revenue on the continent up 27% in 2025. Virgin Bet entered South Africa in March, and sports betting licences have climbed to 400, up 40% from the 2020/21 financial year.
Regulation Under Pressure
South Africa’s Treasury opened a public consultation in November on an online gambling tax to offset social costs linked to problem gambling. Public feedback will inform draft national legislation later this year. Toby Chance, a Democratic Alliance member of parliament, said political will to update the country’s 2004 gambling law has been “absent” and that South Africa is being “robbed” by illegal offshore operators that avoid tax.
Licensed operators push back on the framing. Ulrik Bengtsson, CEO of Sunbet operator Sun International, said a licensed, tax-paying industry is “the solution to consumer protection, not the problem,” and contrasted regulated firms with offshore platforms that operate beyond regulatory reach.
TGJ Take
This is no longer only a responsible gambling issue. When grocers, banks, fashion retailers and telcos all report that betting spend cuts into core revenue, regulators gain political cover to act. South Africa’s Treasury consultation on a gambling tax is already in progress, with draft legislation expected later this year. For affiliates that drive traffic to African-facing brands, markets with rapid betting growth and weak consumer protection can shift from high-margin opportunities to compliance liability with little warning. Build that scenario into your planning now.
