Blask reports September iGaming demand rises 19% across Africa

Blask reported that its Africa Index, a measure of interest in iGaming, rose 19% in September 2026 from August, the second consecutive month of gains. According to the company, 41 of the 42 countries it tracks in the region recorded an increase, with Mali the only decline. Blask said it tracked 42 of 58 countries in its Africa classifier as of September 2026.

Blask put South Africa's share of its African Blask Index at 20.7%, the biggest of any market, and its month-on-month rise of 7.6% followed 7.5% in August. That was the weakest advance recorded by a large market. Faster expansion in Tanzania, Nigeria, Mozambique and most other countries cost South Africa 2.2 percentage points of regional share. Nigeria held second place on an 11% share, gaining 24.6%, near its August rate. Tanzania climbed 32.7% after 24.7% in August and added 1.1 percentage points of regional share, for a 10.7% share. Kenya advanced 16.8% and Mozambique 29.7%, the company said.

According to Blask, 37 of the 42 markets it follows posted gains in both August and September, and the nine largest held their positions. Ethiopia carries genuine weight at 1.4% of African demand and climbed one place to 15th, while each of the other three leaders on that growth chart accounts for less than 1% of the region. Mali fell for a second month running, after 60.4% in August, and dropped two places to 28th; at 0.3% of the regional total the slide left the continental figure unaffected, Blask said. Botswana also fell two places, to 12th. Among the current top 10, Ghana alone shifted rank, rising one place to 10th.

Among brands, Sierra Leone was the only country to change its leading brand, with betPawa replacing Elephant Bet at 41.83% BAP, a brand's percentage share of total market demand in a country. Elephant Bet's Blask Index still rose 34.9%, and betPawa's rose faster, according to the company. The top three names were unchanged in 34 of 42 markets. In Kenya, Betika stayed first at 29.16% BAP, SportPesa's Blask Index rose 34.4% and moved into second, and GameMania fell 8.7% and dropped to third.

Betway strengthened its first place in South Africa, reaching 48.49% BAP as its Blask Index climbed 11.4%, and Hollywoodbets remained second on 27.64% BAP, up 1.7% on the same measure. SportyBet led Nigeria at 42.87% BAP, ahead of Bet9ja on 28.88%, and its Blask Index gained 30.6%. In Tanzania betPawa kept the top spot even as its BAP slipped from 63.20% to 60.55% and its Blask Index advanced 27.1%; Betika's Blask Index jumped 104.3% and its BAP reached 2.13%. Mozambique saw the region's biggest BAP point increase, with Betway moving from 54.39% to 64.06%, a rise of 9.7 percentage points, while its Blask Index added 52.8%.

Brand demand in Mali mirrored the country's fall: bet223 saw its BAP drop from 23.39% to 15.22% and its Blask Index shed 48.5%, the steepest BAP point decline on the continent, according to Blask. In Niger, Bet9ja climbed from 4.17% to 12.09% BAP while PariFoot gave up roughly half of its BAP in that market; because Niger accounts for under 0.1% of African demand, neither move affects the regional total. Blask framed the question ahead as whether October will again show faster growth nearly everywhere else alongside a further month of South Africa ceding share.