Can Ghana become Africa’s fourth largest online gambling market?

Launching its Betano brand in Ghana on 5 February, Kaizen Gaming touted the West African market’s long-term growth potential, which is underpinned by strong digital adoption and a forward-looking regulatory framework.

The Malta-headquartered operator is offering iGaming and sports betting, angling to capitalise on the nation’s already growing smartphone penetration rate and robust online payment adoption. Nana Yaa Ahmed, a partner at the Ghana unit of pan-African law firm ENS Africa, tells iGB that the country meets most of the requirements that investors consider when choosing markets to invest in, consolidate and deepen their presence.

She explains that Ghana has a youthful, tech-savvy population and stable political and economic environment, offering the right conditions for operators to comfortably advertise their offerings. “First, demographics are a key contributing factor. Ghana has a youthful population with a strong interest in sport (particularly football), and the youth, comprising an estimated 57% of the population as determined by the Ghana Statistical Services in 2021, are heavily involved in online sports betting,” Ahmed notes.

Ghana trailing Kenya and Nigeria in gambling activity

In a 2021 survey, Statista established that 70.68% of Ghanaian youths engaged in gambling, which placed the country fourth in Africa behind the perceived ‘Big Three’ of Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa. A year later, research conducted by TGM Global Gambling and Sports Betting Survey found 50% of Ghana’s 34 million people engaged in some form of betting, and 42% specifically bet on sports.

Disaggregated by gender and age group, the survey also shows that men (57%) and the 18–24 (56%) and 25–34 (57%) age groups lead in betting activities. In addition to the youthfulness of Ghana’s population, another key factor driving the growth of the local gambling industry, according to Ahmed, is the “rapid” and “transformative” expansion of smartphone usage and mobile money platforms.

The market’s top mobile communications providers, such as MTN Mobile Money, Telecel Cash and Airtel Tigo Money, have streamlined payment models to enable users to deposit and withdraw funds without recourse to traditional banking channels. Due to this alignment, up to 70% of all bets in Ghana are placed through mobile phones, and over 75% of the wagers are football-related, with the English Premier League, the Spanish La Liga and the UEFA Champions League the main areas of interest.

Approximately 73 operators are registered with the regulator, the Gaming Commission of Ghana (GCG). Apart from Betano, other prominent licensees are Betway, 1xBet, Betika, BetPawa, Betwinner, MyBet Africa, SportyBet, MelBet and SuperBet. They provide a wide range of activities, including casino, sports betting and remote interactive games.

Ghana’s online gambling market grew 24% in 2025

Ghana’s online gross win hit $903.5 million in 2025. While in 2024 online gross win hit $729.8 million, according to H2 Gambling Capital data. This marks an annual growth rate of 24%. David Yaw Danquah, a lawyer at Accra-based Legalstone Solicitors PRUC, said in a recent note that the country’s legal framework was supportive of the growth of the industry.

However authorities amended the Income Tax Act in 2023 to impose a 20% tax on gross gambling revenue from betting, gaming and other games of chance and a 10% withholding tax on winnings. However, following sustained industry pressure, the government dropped the withholding tax early last year, allowing winners to receive their full prize amount without any tax deductions.

This, Danquah says, is a notable development for the industry. Another significant development was the enactment of the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Law to regulate cryptocurrency in December 2025. “For years, Ghana has expressed its aversion to, or deep-seated disinclination toward, embracing the emerging crypto market, which is an essential linchpin for payments in the regulated gaming industry elsewhere,” he says.

“This stance has come to an end. Now, Ghana has taken a bold, pragmatic step to enact legislation regulating the cryptocurrency market, bringing certainty and openness. It is intended that the proposed law will empower the Bank of Ghana to license, regulate and supervise the operation of entities active in the digital space.”

Crypto opportunities

In a release from December, Ghana’s Securities and Exchange Commission said, in terms of its mandate to operationalise the VASP Act, it had finalised the applicable regulatory sandbox framework for VASPs to pilot their products and services in a controlled environment under its regulatory oversight.

The regulatory sandbox period will last for 12 months. After the first six months, VASPs, whose products and services are market-ready and have complied with all regulatory requirements, may be transitioned to their respective activity-based licence/registration. Providers whose products and services are not market-ready within the first six months would be permitted to continue the pilot of their product(s) for the remaining six months.

Ahmed further notes that Ghana’s generally stable political and economic conditions, as well as its regulatory framework have created an environment which is ideal for investment. The country is one of Africa’s more developed economies with a gross domestic product of about $118 billion, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

What Ahmed describes as “pervasive” advertising of betting services across legacy and online platforms has normalised gambling in everyday Ghanaian life. Furthermore, sponsorships have embedded betting brands into the national sporting consciousness, hence the sustained growth of the local industry.

Gambling as a supplementary income source

“Economic pressures, including high youth unemployment and low wages, have also driven individuals towards gambling as a supplementary income source,” she adds. Betway Ghana is an equipment sponsor of the Ghanaian Women’s Football Premier League, while BetPawa was, until the 2024-25 season, a major sponsor of the men’s local top-flight league.

Asante Kotoko, Aduana FC and Dreams FC, which rank among the most popular football sides in the main league, are or used to be sponsored by gambling brands such as Alpha Lotto, Betika, 10bet Africa and the National Lottery Authority.

“Gambling remains a legitimate legal business in Ghana under the regulatory supervision of the Gaming Commission of Ghana, and the gaming industry is experiencing significant growth, which presents enormous investment opportunities,” Danquah observes. A foreign firm applying for an operating licence in Ghana must incorporate a Ghanaian limited liability company, which may be 100% locally-owned or structured as a joint venture with foreign participants.

An investor can secure a permit if they meet minimum capital requirements ranging between $1.5 million and $2.5 million, depending on the type of gaming activity they seek to provide.

Greater oversight needed for online gambling in Ghana’s regulations

ENS Ghana projects that Ghana’s gambling industry will continue growing due to increased use of smartphones and financial technology, the use of data and algorithm-driven odds and increasingly tailored user experiences. While the legal framework is broadly supportive, Ahmed notes that the Gaming Act must be amended so that it provides for greater oversight of online activity.

“First, the Gaming Act was enacted prior to the rapid emergence and growth of digital/online gambling games and services (i.e. remote gambling) and is therefore premised almost exclusively on a ‘brick and mortar’ regulatory model, assuming the existence of physical premises such as casinos, betting houses and gambling machines,” she tells iGB.

“Although the GCG, in the discharge of its statutory mandate, extends the application of the Gaming Act and its guidelines to remote gambling services, the Gaming Act does not establish an express licensing regime for remote gambling (whether conducted by local or foreign operators) and does not expressly regulate the cross border supply of remote gambling services by foreign operators, including the criteria for determining whether particular conduct or activity constitutes ‘targeting’ Ghanaian users or amounts to ‘reverse solicitation’.”

Gaming-specific AML rules required

This gap, she argues, creates a regulatory loophole which can cause fiscal leakage, intensifying the need for an amendment to the law so that it expressly recognises and regulates remote gambling. There is also a need for authorities to align the enabling law with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT) guidelines.

Ahmed notes that while the commission issues relevant guidelines, the Gambling Act remains silent on those aspects.

“As a result, AML/CFT obligations applicable to gaming operators arise primarily from regulator-issued guidelines and external legislation, rather than being expressly established in the Gaming Act, as the principal statute governing the gambling industry,” she highlights.

“We recommend that the Gaming Act be amended to expressly incorporate key AML/CFT obligations, such as customer due diligence, record keeping, internal controls and suspicious transaction reporting, and to clearly link non-compliance with these obligations to the enforcement and sanctions regime under the Gaming Act. Incorporating AML/CFT requirements within the Gaming Act would enhance legal certainty and strengthen enforcement.”